Bloodmates?
by kirstyrob14
Summary: Meet Abigail Turner, a teenager with a secret she can't share. She's been in Stoneybridge a couple of months but she's still considered an outsider among her peers, can a certain blonde haired Wolfblood help change that - or will he just continue to make things worse.
1. Lone Wolf - Pt1

I wandered slowly into school tugging my hoody closer to me as I walked. I was tired, actually, no, make that exhausted. I was starting to feel the aftermath of staying up all night and was not enjoying it one bit. In all honesty it had been a poor plan, even if it had been worth it at the time. I had had a lot of fun last night, but the morning after seemed to just kill me. I knew I wasn't the only one that felt this after effect of the full moon but it was still annoying and made my day feel ten times worse than it would normally be. Also, the fact I knew I was going to get in trouble today from my only friend around here just added to the misery I was feeling. I had a good idea of what I was in for when she found me - a lecture followed by a good telling off - which would probably end up being the highlight of my sure to be terrible day. _Yay!_

I groaned, _in anticipation_ , as I heard the distinct voice of my friend, Maddy, in the distance. Her steps were getting closer and closer, and by the way she was walking I could tell she was in a bad mood. _Fantastic_. I made to turn around and run off towards the moors when I heard Maddy whisper, threatening me if I dared to run off. I pouted in annoyance but stopped turning and moved towards her.

"Where were you last night Abi!?" She whisper-yelled clearly not amused by my absence during the full moon. I gave her a small sheepish grin.

"I wasn't quick enough. Ended up on the moors... funniest thing though, I swear I smelt someone else out there too, but, well, I couldn't see anyone." I admitted, trying to distract her a little with a mystery, hoping it would get her off my back. Maddy frowned at me as she thought over what I said.

"Another Wolfblood? On the moors?" She asked disbelievingly. I blinked, surprised the tactic had worked.

"That's what it smelled like, but I didn't see anyone." I repeated, looking down at the ground in thought, only to frown as I saw Mads feet. "Okay, what's with the boots?" I asked pointing down at the wellingtons on her feet. The younger Wolfblood in front of me sighed with annoyance.

"Mam and Dad tried to get out last night." She said as if that explained everything, before she walked off towards the door, where Tom and Shannon normally stood in the morning while they waited for Maddy. I sighed in annoyance, but followed anyway. I wasn't a huge fan of Maddy's friends, and they weren't a huge fan of me either, but I had to put up with them if I wanted to talk to Maddy at all.

"What are those? You look like a right idiot." Jimi quipped, trying to look cool in front of his friends, as he moved over to stand in front of the pair of us. We both stopped and looked at him. I automatically tensed and bit my tongue, trying to hold back a growl. I hated bullies and would have quite happily transformed to take a bite out of them, especially when they bullied a member of my pack. Maddy gave me a quick glace over the shoulder, telling me to back down. I did so reluctantly.

"Yeah, I do. But, I can take these off. You're stuck with that face." Maddy retorted causing a smirk to spread across my face. She was good. I watched the smug look fall from Jimi's face with satisfaction before pushing my way past, hinting to Maddy that we should move over to Tom at the doorway.

"What are those on your feet?" Tom asked, standing up from his seat on the wall. I rolled my eyes at the stupid question but didn't open my mouth to comment. Instead just crossed my arms over my chest and sighing in exasperation. Tom threw me a small glare in return.

"My shoes got eaten by werewolves." Maddy answered causing me to snort and Tom to look at her strangely.

"Did you not see the full moon last night?" I added in with a small teasing tone. Tom rolled his eyes.

"Don't you start. I've already had this from Oh, Shannon!" He said waving over our heads at the obsessed girl who was heading towards us. Maddy turned to look as I instead just tuned my ears to hear her walking pace. She was clearly excited and had some news to share with Mads and Tom... and knowing Shannon it was going to be about the 'beast' on the moors... oh crap, I was out there last night, so was another Wolfblood... not good.

"Maddy! Did you hear last night on the moors? Howling." She panted. I winced before I pulled my face together, trying to look impasse about the idea of wolves on the moors. Maddy flashed me and angry look out the corner of her eye, which I took as my queue to leave.

"Right, not that I don't want to hear what I'm sure would be a simply fascinating story about the 'beast', but I have some stuff to hand in. I'll see you later." I told them. Shannon frowned and held up her hand as if to stop my movements.

"We've just started, how can you have stuff to hand in already?" She asked. I smiled at her.

"Old work from my last school, she wanted a copy of all the topics I had covered." I explained quickly before I made my get away, keen to leave Maddy's glare. I walked as fast as I could down the corridor, stopping just far enough away that they wouldn't be able to see me but I could still hear them.

"Here, look what I found on Drayman's Lane this morning." Shannon said after some rustling in her bag. "I'm going to compare it to paw-print photos of different dogs." She continued. I growled in annoyance. Why couldn't she just leave the moors alone? Clearly she had gotten some photographic evidence of my, or the other Wolfblood's, paw print and now wanted to use it to prove there was a 'beast'.

"What, every type of dog?" Tom asked. I rolled my eyes, yes Tom that's what she said.

"This is proof, Tom. Proof that there's something weird over there on the moors." Shannon explained. I sighed and pulled my bag round to my front, pulling out the folder before I started making my way towards my new science class room - I hadn't actually planned to do it until later, but if it got me out of trouble from Maddy for a few more minutes, I'd do it. I glared at the people who gave me disapproving looks as I went by, trying not to appear threatened or put off by their gazes.

I was nearly there when I caught a new scent, a sweet, woodsy scent. It was lovely, unbelievably wonderful. I stopped and pivoted on the spot, trying to smell the direction this ridiculously good smelling person had gone in, frowning when I noticed that all the other smells from students had covered it up, making it near impossible to trace. I growled quietly but shook it off, deciding to take care of one mission before starting a new one. I headed back towards science.

"Miss Turner, to what do I owe the pleasure this morning?" My teacher asked, peeking up from behind her desk as I opened the classroom door. I gave her a small smile before waving my folder up to show her my reason of being here before I had to be. She nodded her head and made a noise of understanding.

"I see. Well, leave it on my desk and I'll give it back to you tomorrow." She told me before making a gesture to shoo. I snorted my amusement and followed the orders, before I then took my leave. I headed back along the corridor, taking deep breathes in as I tried to locate the wonderful scent I had found earlier. It was no longer anywhere. I sighed in annoyance and instead headed to where Shannons', Toms', Mads' and my own lockers were. I wanted to ask Maddy if she could smell the amazing scent too.

"Yes! New photography club members." I heard Shannon shout in excitement as I made my way towards them. I raised an eye brow, not really believing anyone would sign up - I had been forced to by Maddy.

"Finally!" Tom sighed in relief. I shook my head at them as I silently took my place next to Maddy, leaning against my locker.

"You're going to need a bigger darkroom." Mr Jeffries commented as he exited his classroom. I looked over at him.

"What Sir?" I asked, slightly confused. Shannon and Tom both jumped and glared at me for my sudden appearance. I smirked a little at their reaction before looking at them innocently and shrugging my shoulders. Mr Jeffries however didn't seem surprised by my sudden appearance.

"Apparently the Incredible Hulk is taking up photography, along with Superman... And, there is some awful handwriting in the school." He trailed off as he got distracted. I laughed quietly at the reactions of the group but stopped when Maddy nudged me in the stomach telling me to shut up. I did so.

"We're going to get new members and, even if we don't, the photography club is still a vital part of school life." Maddy pleaded, clearly still wanting the club and the room. I sighed and turned to open my locker, now a little bored with the pleading and guilt tripping that had been going on all week for the club.

"We can only fund clubs that involve a cross-section of pupils. You have four members, and these three only joined to keep you happy." Mr Jeffries reminded us, gesturing to Tom, Shannon and I. I nodded my head; there was no point in denying the obvious. I felt Shannon pinch my side and sighed; guess it was my turn to plead.

"That is not true." Shannon denied.

"Oh, come on sir. It's just one room, surely you can let us have it. It's not as if we just hang out in it, we do valuable work for the school in there." I pointed out, hinting for the others to mention all the other groups we help.

"The darkroom houses the official archive for the football team. You can't just cancel," Tom started when Shannon started to talk over him.

"And the Stoneybridge Zoological Society."

"What?" Mr Jeffries asked looking at Shannon, I shrugged my shoulders. He shook his head and continued his point, "Look, I'm glad you all have passions, but it does not entitle you to a room on school premises to use as your own private den. You have until tomorrow morning to find three new members or I'm closing you down." He told us before he turned and looked down the corridor, I followed his gaze.

"Harry! No running in school." He shouted as he walked off. I laughed as I saw the small boy ignore him and continue - he was pretty fast.

"When I find out who did this..." Shannon ranted, dragging my attention back from the Harry running away from Mr Jeffries. I glanced over at Maddy, who looked like she was already on the case. I listened hard, trying to hear what she was.

"Nice one, boys." Jimi congratulated, causing me to growl quietly. I could hear a quiet noise of anger come from Maddy's chest as well which made me smirk, it meant she couldn't hit me for growling this time.

"Serves her right." Liam added, as the three of them looked over at us with smug grins. I moved to step forward, prepared to wipe the stupid looks off their faces, when Shannon stepped in my path, blocking my view of them.

"Stupid club." I heard Sam agreed.

"Jimi." Maddy suddenly stated, clearly too overcome by her anger to notice she'd spoken allowed. I rolled my eyes at her stupid and novice mistake but didn't comment, she wasn't used to hiding her thoughts and abilities up until recently... or well, since I had arrived, before that she hadn't used her Wolfblood powers in school.

"How did you work that one out?" Shannon asked looking up from her speculation of the members sheet. I glanced at Maddy to see her floundering around trying to come up with an excuse and decided to save her the trouble.

"Who else has got such bad handwriting? Look, see, terrible. It's Jimi." I replied, pulling the paper from the girls hand and pointing at all the names to add emphasis to my point, cringing internally at the shamefully see through cover up I had come up with.

"Come on." Maddy said, rolling her eyes at my excuse. I frowned at her; I had been saving _her_ wolfy butt. Maddy shrugged her shoulders in response before turning on her heels and heading towards our first class. She had taken one step when she tensed. I stopped short, wondering what was wrong. Maddy turned and took a deep breath in, smelling the air. I followed her lead only to relax as I got the scent from earlier that I loved so much, Maddy on the other hand began what seemed to be a hunt.

Maddy took off down the corridor, trying to follow the scent through the sea of all the other students' scents. I shared a glance with Tom and Shannon before the three of us took off after her Tom shouting trying to stop her. I shook my head at him, that wasn't going to work. Maddy got as far as the stairs before the scent trail became infected by other smells given off by students. I stood at the top of the stairs beside Tom and Shannon looking down at her.

"Mads, what are you doing? It's time for class." Tom asked, Mads glanced up at us, only to turn back to the stairs with a frown. I smiled and leaned against the railing, still able to vaguely smell the woodsy scent. Maddy made her way slowly up the stairs and shook her head, smiling at Tom and Shannon.

"Sorry, thought I saw something." She commented, the other two nodded before they started walking, leading the way back to class. I glanced at Maddy.

"Wolfblood?" I asked. She nodded.

"Hmm, well, whoever they are. They smell fantastic." I told her. She frowned at me.

"They smell like every other Wolfblood." She corrected. I frowned, that was so not true, this one smelt one million times better than any other Wolfblood I've ever come across, but I decided not to argue over it and instead shrugged.

"Sure. Could just be my senses on high from transforming last night." I lied. Maddy seemed content with that answer and started pulling me towards the classroom. I groaned but allowed her to pull me, still curious as to where the scent came from and why I was so in love with it. We just made it inside when Mr Jefferies started explaining to someone about the way things work here. I had heard the speech about a month or so before, and clearly Mr Jefferies hadn't come up with anything new.

"Welcome aboard. My name is Mr Jeffries. I'm your head of year, as well as your form tutor, so you will be seeing a lot of me over the next year." He joked, or well tried to joke, it wasn't funny. I rolled my eye at the attempt as I started to walk past to get to my seat at the back of the class. There was a spare seat beside me, more than likely where the... oh my, he was the Wolfblood, the fantastic smelling Wolfblood. I froze right in front of the pair of them and turned to look at the new boy. His eyes met mine with a frown, which made me want to frown. I continued my staring until a cough brought my attention back to the teacher beside me.

"Miss Turner, do you need something?" Mr Jeffries asked. I shook my head, blushing as I felt the new kids' eyes on me... WAIT! WHAT!? Blushing? Since when do I do that!?

"Uh... No sir. Sorry sir." I muttered before I made my way to my seat, placing my hands on my desk and bowing my head. I stared at my hands, ignoring the looks I could feel from both the new kid and Maddy.

"Everyone!" Mr Jefferies shouted, gaining everyone's attention - including my own. I glanced up and gave the new kid a small reassuring smile. He returned it but as soon as it had appeared it disappeared; clearly he didn't want to be here. "This is Rhydian Morris, who I am guessing is from Wales." Mr Jefferies continued causing me to frown, he had guessed that I was from London when I first arrived - he'd been wrong.

"No." Rhydian replied seeming confused at the idea. I felt bad for him and quietly growled as the whole class burst in to laughter. My growls went unheard from all except from Maddy who was still standing; she turned and gave me a disapproving look.

"No, he's not from Wales. OK. Sue me." Mr Jefferies muttered, clearly annoyed he'd gotten another guess wrong. I looked over at Maddy, who was glaring at Rhydian. I glared at her in return only to freeze when I realized how attached I'd become from only his scent, that wasn't normal.

"Quiet, everyone!" Mr Jefferies shouted to the class who'd started to make sheep noised causing me to frown with annoyance. They were getting on my nerves. I glanced down at my hands before quickly hiding them under the desk, I was starting to wolf out. I took a few calming breaths and closed my eyes, using techniques my parents had taught me to calm myself.

"You smell like my parents." Maddy suddenly commented breaking me out of my thoughts. I chanced a look up to see the pair of them having a mini stare off, Maddy holding a threatening stance while Rhydian took a defensive one. I glared at her and growled. They both flicked their gazes over to me for a second and looked surprised at my reaction. I didn't like the way Maddy was looking at Rhydian.

"Maddy, Maddy, sit down." Mr Jefferies ordered over the laughs and bleats that were coming from the rest of the class. She glanced once at me before doing so. "Thank you. Rhydian, you too."

Rhydian looked around the class before seeing the empty seat beside me. I looked at him and silently nodded my permission, he smiled in return before he made his way past Maddy and the others, looking at Maddy somewhat warily, I immediately felt my wolf want to break free and defend him causing me to sigh and lean back in my chair. This was not what I needed.

"Quiet! Claire, wake up! James, James! If I hear one more sheep noise coming from the back of the class, you'll regret it." Mr Jefferies reprimanded. I smiled at Rhydian as he sat beside me, trying to be as welcoming and open as possible. I could tell he was the defensive type and I didn't want to come across as a threat like Maddy did, I knew that that approach would get me nowhere.

Rhydian gave me a small smile as he sat down, leaving his bag on the on the floor beside him. I subconsciously took a big whiff of the air around me and found myself grinning when all I could smell was him. He smelt great. He didn't look to bad either in all honesty. I especially loved his eyes, though I knew they would be yellow like my own in wolf form, his human eyes were a sort of greeny blue. They reminded me off both the woods and sky at the same time. They were the complete opposite of my muddy brown coloured ones. I hadn't realised I was staring at him until I heard one of the K's speak, dragging my attention back to the real world.

"Don't mind those idiots. They're a few coats short of a manicure." Kay told him causing me to roll my eyes. Honestly, makeup metaphors, that's really what she was going for? I groaned and leaned back in my chair, folding my arms, as I noticed the other two K's turn to stare at the newcomer. The three of them glared at me, which made Rhydian tense. I frowned at his reaction but didn't question it; instead I threw my head back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Rhydian, that's a lovely name. What's it mean?" Kara asked.

"Where in Wales are you from?" Katrina asked causing me to chuckle in amusement, he wasn't from Wales.

"I live on the hill. It's where all the best houses are in Stoneybridge." Kara told him, ignoring Katrina's comment. I frowned and moved my head to peep around Rhydian.

"You don't live on the hill. Morgan and Susan do." I corrected with a confused frown, she glared at me.

"No, they live in Hill house." She bit back causing me to raise my arms in surrender. I hadn't realised that there was a house on the hill and a Hill House. Kara, Katrina and Kay all glared at me as they and I noticed Rhydian's attention was fully on me. I gave him a small smile before turning back to the K's.

"So, wait, why is it called Hill house if it isn't actually on the hill?" I asked.

"Because they live near the hill, freak." Kay snapped. I glared in return but didn't comment, deciding it was safer and easier just to lean back in my chair. I saw Rhydian frown and start to glare at the three K's but before he could do or say anything he'd regret I lightly hit his arm. He looked back at me.

"Just leave it, I'm fine." I told him quietly so only he and I... possibly Maddy, would hear. He frowned but nodded. I looked back at the front of the class once I got his confirmation, ready to start sleeping with my eyes open.

Class was over, and it had been interesting to say the least. I couldn't concentrate on anything, only on Rhydian. He was somehow distracting me, _by just sitting there_. I had noticed all his little movements, every time he moved in his seat, every time he sighed, every time he blinked. I always noticed. It was like my whole body was on constant alert around him. Even now, standing on the landing at the top of the stairs, I was looking down at him as he twisted confused by his time table. I just couldn't stop watching him.

I leaned on the banister quietly, not wanting to draw his attention to me. I took quiet, deep breaths and watched carefully. He wasn't really doing anything, just reading and looking between the two levels clearly unsure of where to go, but even then he still looked cute to me. I just, could not get him out of my head.

Shaking my head I pulled away and started making my way down to try and help him, only to pause as I saw Maddy run up to him. I felt an urge to run and jump in her path, stop her sudden attack, but forced myself to stay where I was. I did not want to get in the middle of her and Rhydian's little spat, or at least that's what I told myself.

"What are you doing here?" Maddy demanded jumping down to stand in front of him threateningly, that move alone nearly made me run to his defence.

"What? I'm looking for," Rhydian started seeming to be confused by her tone, only to get cut off.

"No, here. On our territory. Don't you know the rules? You can't stay here. If my mam and dad get a sniff of you..." She trailed off. I frowned and leant back on the banister, interested in what was going on. So, he hadn't gone to talk to the Smiths about being on their land? I thought every Wolfblood knew that they couldn't stay or walk through another packs territory without permission. I'd got Emma's and Daniels permission.

"I don't even know you." Rhydian replied with a frown making the shorter girl even more annoyed.

"Exactly!"

"I don't care whose territory this is. I'm not sticking around anyway. And why would I in this dump? No smelly girl tells me whether to stay or go." He shouted, before he pushed past her and made his way up the stairs. I felt a pain in my chest when I heard him talk of leaving, and frowned at myself. Why did I feel that? What did that mean? Growling I took off down the stairs to stand in front of the younger Wolfblood.

"What was that?" I asked angrily. She glared at me.

"He's on our territory, you should be backing me up!" She shouted causing me to growl.

"Just because he's on our territory, doesn't mean you can be rude to him." I hissed, Maddy glared back harder in return and let out a growl, causing me to laugh.

"Please, pup." I retorted before continuing, "Just stop threatening him." I finished before I turned on my heel and ran up the stairs. I didn't really have a destination in mind, just away from Mads. She wouldn't be happy with the pup comment and while I know she can't transform yet, she's still a threat to me and can throw me out of her families pack at anytime. She had more control over this land than I ever would.

Sighing, I made my way along the corridor, passing Jimi, Sam, and Liam as I went. I heard the three of them mutter something but paid them no heed as I made my way. I wasn't in the mood to hear about their stupid football, or what they were whispering about me, and I was sure that one of those two things would be the topic. I neared the end of the corridor when I heard Jimi.

"Oi! Freak, someone told me your parents are away this weekend." Jimi shouted. I sighed and closed my eyes in annoyance. Of course someone would find out, there were hardly any secrets in Stoneybridge.

"Foster parents, and yes there leaving tomorrow and then off at a conference meeting until Monday." I replied. Jimi smirked and walked casually over to me with a grin on his face.

"So, what I'm hearing is party at yours?" He asked. I frowned.

"Uh, no, I don't remember saying that, and if anyone comes round expecting a party they will be thrown to the wolves." I told him with a smirk. Jimi glared in response, not getting my little inside joke.

"Freak!" He spat before turning and walking off back down the corridor. I rolled my eyes at the pathetic response before I decide to make my way to the canteen for lunch. Meat was on the menu. Yes!

I entered the canteen and went along to grab a tray, planning on getting the thing which contained the most meat. I joined the queue like the good little Wolfblood I was and followed it as I slowly got closer and closer to the front. It was meatballs today, great, nothing like a little beef to get your afternoon going. I began jumping on the spot in anticipation and bit my bottom lip, feeling my stomach grumble as it shouted for food. I was near the front when my sensitive ears picked up a chuckle. My head flicked around to the source and my muddy eyes met forest green ones. Rhydian had a small smile on his face as he watched me. I grinned and waved back in response, letting him know I had heard his chuckle. He shook his head and looked back down at what seemed to be his drawing pad.

"Yes?" A voice said, pulling my head back around to the lunch lady. I blushed as I realised I'd been staring for a while and quickly stepped up to look at her.

"Meatballs, please." I ordered politely. She smiled and nodded filling up a plate before plonking it on my tray. I grinned at her before I picked up a pudding and was about to make my way over to Mads when I remembered what had happened. Cursing myself, I stopped and looked around. I wasn't going to sit with the K's or Jimi, and there was only one other person I knew. I sighed lightly at the slightly awkward situation but made my way over to Rhydian's table. I was two steps away when I paused.

"Uh, can, can I sit here?" I stuttered. The blonde looked up at me with surprise before nodding his head. I grinned at him and took the seat, placing my bag at my feet.

"So, you're Rhydian?" I asked, trying to initiate a conversation. He raised an eyebrow at me and smirked.

"Of all the things to ask, that's what you pick?" He retorted with a laugh. I snorted and shook my head, looking down at the floor.

"Uh, yeah, I know, stupid question. How about, hi my names Abigail but my friends call me Abi." I smiled. He smiled back.

"So, Abi, why'd you pick to sit with me and not your weird friend over there?" Rhydian asked, pointing over his shoulder at Maddy. I frowned as I looked over at her and noted her glaring while talking to Shannon.

"Someone must know something about him. Seen removal vans, something." She was saying, causing me to glare at her. It was none of her business.

"Did you two have a falling out?" Rhydian teased, drawing my attention back to him. I gave him a sad smile.

"Sort of. It's kind of complicated." I admitted. He frowned.

"Sorry, are you okay?" I blinked at the question; no one had asked me that in months, or not with the level of concern that he had. Rhydian seemed like he genuinely cared, like he actually wanted to know.

"Um, I-I'm fine, what makes you think otherwise?" I asked with a frown.

"I can see it, in your eyes. You seem sad, and, it's like, I can just feel it. You're hiding your real feelings and you put on a happy front, but you're not really okay." He replied, tilting his head. I paused and just looked at him, not sure how to reply or if I even could reply. He was right, I suppose, but how? How did he know?

"I don't know how, before you ask. I can just... feel it?" He told me with a shrug. I gave him a sad smile.

"Well, I've known you for less than a day and you already seem to know me better than my foster parents and social worker, and I've known them for months." I admitted, trying to make a joke out of it. He smiled at me, a smile which I quickly returned, until I realised I was staring at him. Coughing awkwardly, I looked down at my lunch and quickly dug in; Rhydian also looked away and went back to his drawing.

I had planned to talk to him about being on the Smiths territory but in all honesty, I didn't know how to bring it up. I couldn't just tell him I knew he was a Wolfblood and tell him all the rules, especially if he already had asked permission from Emma and Dan, but since Mads didn't know I figured he hadn't. Or, what if he was a lone wolf? Or just passing through? Or was planning on asking after school? I was between a rock and a hard place.

Shaking my head of my thoughts I decided to chance a look up, only to smile and blush slightly as I saw Rhydian staring at me. He glanced down a second later, a light shade of red on his cheeks too. Chuckling to myself I looked down again and started moving my food around on my plate. Neither of us said another word to the other, the pair of us in our own worlds. I kept my head down and stared at my plate, until I sensed Rhydian tense a little. I instantly tensed as well, internally yelling at myself for getting defensive of him, looking up I relaxed as I only saw Tom.

"That's brilliant. You're really good, you know." Tom complimented as he came up behind Rhydian. I smiled at him for attempting to make friends with Rhydian, but I already knew it wouldn't work - Rhydian was definitely the lone wolf type. I heard a slight sigh of annoyance in the distance and peered around Tom to glare at Maddy. She was really getting on my nerves today.

"What do you want?" Rhydian asked still staring down at his amazing drawing, dismissing the compliment. Tom looked up at me questionably causing me to roll my eyes and shrug. I didn't know how they could become besties; there wasn't exactly a technique to get fantastic smelling, good looking, blonde haired Wolfblood's to like you.

"Just wanted to know if you like football." Tom replied, glaring at me for my lack of help.

"Not really." The blonde haired Wolfblood in front of me replied. I frowned slightly at that, I thought he might have liked to play it with all the running and everything. I mean, while I wasn't exactly in love with it, if I could run around I'd play it. But, I guess, not all Wolfblood's enjoy running with humans like I do.

"Because it's a good way to make friends." Tom tried again, causing me to sigh and cross my arms in annoyance. I mean, saying no once wasn't enough?

"I don't like football and I don't want to hang around with you and your weirdo mate. You got that?" Rhydian replied, turning away from his drawing to glare up at Tom. I flinched a little at the weirdo remark but didn't say anything. Rhydian was still put out about being told to leave and I understood that. He didn't like Maddy telling him what to do.

"Yeah. I got that." Tom said before he turned around and began muttering, "Obviously they don't teach manners in Wales."

Rhydian looked up at me clearly both agitated and annoyed with my friends. I shrugged my shoulders in a what-can-you-do kind of way before I looked across at where the three of them were sitting.

"Next time, you need to approach the weird kid." Tom commented as he sat down. I growled under my breath again, stopping when I felt someone kick my leg. I glance over at Rhydian who was staring at me like I was mad. I flinched back and instantly felt hurt but pushed it down, choosing to lean back in my chair and play it off. He continued to stare at me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Rhydian, look what we found. It's this competition." Kay said pushing a magazine into Rhydian's face, breaking the pair of us out of the unintentional stare off we had started. I looked over at her as the three of them sat down beside us.

"We're definitely going to enter." Katrina added as she pushed me along the bench so I was no longer opposite Rhydian. I noticed Rhydian glare at them slightly but just shook my head, I wanted to see what they were going to try and woo him with.

"We think you should too cause. You're dead good-looking." Kay admitted. I froze in place and immediately regretted not telling them to get lost.

"All you need is a, what's it called? Photolio." Katrina supplied. I rolled my eyes at her blonde question and answer but didn't comment, instead choosing to start tidying up my bag. I did not want to sit here and watch this stupid, worthless attempt at flirting, especially with Rhydian.

"She means a portfolio." Kay corrected causing me to roll my eyes as I swung myself over the seat to escape this petty battle.

"Come on, girls. He's not interested in that." Kara started, causing me to snort.

"Clearly." I muttered, glancing at Rhydian's annoyed yet confused face. I saw some amusement flash across it at my comment and was about to ask him if he wanted me to show him around and help him escape the three K's torture, when Kara cut me off.

"Go away freak! Who even asked for your opinion?" She asked. I grinned at her sarcastically.

"No one, like usual. Now, I have to go. Shame I'll miss this simply _fascinating_ conversation, but I really must be off. I'll see you later, Rhydian. Thanks for letting me sit with you." I answered before I picked up my bag and the rest of my lunch. I went over to the bins and began disposing off the leftovers.

"He's only just got here. What he needs is someone to show him around, and we know everything about." Kara continued as I very slowly got rid of all my remaining lunch into the bin. I heard Maddy let out a short huff of air as Kara spoke, making me smirk.

"That weird girl, who's she?" Rhydian asked. I looked over to see him pointing at Maddy.

"Maddy Smith?" Kay asked.

"Her?" Kara questioned again. I looked at Maddy and instantly began regretting the things I said to her on the stairs, even if she had deserved it at the time.

"Those country families have lived here for centuries. Never leave the area, don't like strangers or questions." Kara told him. I sighed, deciding I would have to swallow my pride. I walked over to Maddy's table and stopped just beside her. She held up a finger slightly, indicating she was still listening to the conversation between the K's and Rhydian.

"They're all cuckoo!" Katrina added with a flirty smile.

"What are we talking about her for? Let's talk about you and me." Kara said, jumping at the chance to flirt. I was about to growl when I remembered the look I got from the blonde haired Wolfblood. I bit my lip instead and gave a sigh of frustration before looking down at Mads.

"I want to apologise, for what I said on the stairs." I told her. The younger brown haired girl looked up at me with a small smile.

"I suppose I kind of deserved it." She admitted, also swallowing her own pride. I gave her a small smile in thanks before I frowned and threw myself down beside her.

"I-I don't know what to do Mads. It's strange. Every time I feel he's threatened I react. I feel like I'm going to wolf out all the time while I'm around him. It's like nothing I've ever experienced or heard of before." I whispered to her, trying to offer her a reason for lashing out. She frowned at me before glancing between me and Rhydian.

"I don't know either. I'll ask mam and dad tonight, they might know what's going on." She offered. I smiled and hugged her.

"Thanks Mads. Now, I'm off for a quick run, want to join me?" I asked. Maddy shook her head.

"Sorry, photography club member hunting. Maybe tonight or tomorrow?" She replied. I grinned and nodded.

"I'll see you in class." I told her before I made my way out of the canteen, out of the building, out of school grounds, and began my normal full speed run around the surrounding woodland.


	2. Lone Wolf - Pt2

"Shan, you're a genius." Maddy complimented as I made my way towards them. I grinned as I pulled my hair back up into the ponytail it had been in before my run. It had fallen out about five minutes in and I hadn't bothered to fix it until I had come back inside. I silently made my way to Maddy's side.

"Why is Shan a genius?" I asked, making Tom jump. He glared at me in annoyance but turned his attention back to the Badger watch poster and Shan, Maddy looked at me before rolling her eyes and pointing at the poster. I made a noise of realisation and nodded along. We were member hunting and Shannon thought we could get some year sevens to join us.

"If we give out all the club cameras, I bet we'll get three new members by tomorrow." Maddy muttered excitedly. I grinned and patted her back.

"Great plan, Shan." I agreed. Shannon looked a little taken aback by the comment but nodded her thanks anyway. I was in a fantastic mood due to my run and I was feeling super excited and happy. I opened my mouth to ask Maddy if I had to go when I smelt Rhydian behind me. I instantly turned to face him, my need to be with him and see him stronger now that I had been using my inner wolf to run. I watched him carefully as he opened his locker. My grin turning into a frown as I felt my anger growing, only it wasn't my anger. I looked at the smirking idiots along the hallway and glared.

"I thought I smelled something funny." Sam said as Rhydian pulled a leek out of his locker. I tensed and growled lowly, knowing only Mads and Rhydian would hear it.

"Is that your lunch, Welshy?" Liam added, not making mine or Rhydian's mood any better. I moved so I was just behind him, sensing how close he was to wolfing out. I could almost see the anger that flowed off him in waves.

"I'm not even Welsh." Rhydian replied angrily, gaining Maddy's attention. I tensed and took another cautious step towards Rhydian.

"Got a problem, Leek Boy?!" Jimi asked walking quickly towards Rhydian. I moved another step forward and was about to grab Rhydian when he pounced on Jimi, growling at him as he let out all the anger he had towards the idiot. I could feel the anger and hurt and sadness radiating from the blonde Wolfblood and felt my own self beginning to wolf out in response. I glanced down at my hands before looking over at Rhydian. He was at the same stage as me. Seeming to notice his own hands, Rhydian jumped off of Jimi and backed away, bumping into me. I looked at him then at the darkroom before I felt myself and Rhydian being pushed in.

"What on Earth is going on here? Huh?" I heard Mr Jefferies shout just as the door was shut. I looked at Maddy who had pushed us in here before glancing over at Rhydian. He was close to wolfing out and he knew it. I got protectively in front of Maddy as I felt my own veins fill with my wolf blood, I knew I could protect her if need be.

"What are you doing?" Rhydian asked, clearly confused about what was happening. I frowned at him and took a step forward.

"It's all right." I soothed, trying to calm him down. I placed my hands out in front of me, trying to prove I wasn't a threat.

"Get out!" He yelled at the two of us. I could sense the panic in his voice and knew he didn't know what was happening, he needed to calm down. I took a deep breath myself before looking at my hands and back at him.

"Just breathe." I soothed again.

"You have to get out!" Rhydian yelled back, moving further away. He bumped into a shelving unit which fell on top of him. I winced and moved to help when I heard him growl. He quickly got to his hands and knees, looking up at us with pleading eyes. "I'm so sorry." He told us before he wolfed out in front of us. I felt a tug at my own wolf side, trying to push me to also wolf out but pushed it back. Rhydian needed _me_ , not my wolf self.

"Maddy, go stand over beside the door." I ordered quietly. She made a noise of protest but I glanced back with a glare, silencing her. She sighed but moved to the door and leaned against it, blocking off Rhydian's only escape route. I looked back at the wolf that was now hiding under a table and slowly began moving towards him. Rhydian reacted defensively and began running around the room, trying to find another exit.

"Rhydian!" Maddy yelled. I looked over at her and help up a finger to my mouth, telling her to be quiet. She nodded her head once in confirmation. I sighed before looking back at the wolf in front of me.

"Shhh. Rhydian, trust me." I muttered. Holding out a hand in front of me, I knelt down to his level and bowed my head, willing my inner wolf to show itself. As I allowed it to fill me I looked back up at him with my bright yellow eyes. I could feel the confusion radiating off of him as well as his panic and anger. I took a deep breath and tried to use this strange bond to push calm towards him. I smiled at him as he sat down in front of me and took a small step forward. I held out my left hand and placed it on his head, grinning as he leaned into it. I scratched him behind his ear before I stood up, calming myself down. A few moments later, he also stood up, no longer a wolf. I grinned at him.

"I knew there was something about you when your eyes went. It's true, isn't it? You're like me! You are like me." Rhydian asked, seeming excited. I smiled at him and nodded slightly. He grinned and took a step towards me. Maddy growled from the corner and began picking up stuff.

"We're not like you! We don't show off and pick fights and invades other packs' territory." She ranted. I froze and turned to growl at her. My wolf was just below the surface and I did not appreciate her talking to Rhydian like that.

"You're a danger to us all. And the sooner you leave the better." Maddy continued, ignoring my warnings. I felt my eyes turn yellow and I was growling all the more now. I felt someone grab my hand and squeeze it. I squeezed it back, instantly knowing it was Rhydian. He dropped it a second later. Keys in the door stopped me from opening my mouth to yell at Maddy. Tom and Shannon walked in a second later, looking around the place appalled.

"What happened in here?" Shannon asked. I looked between Rhydian and Maddy and opened my mouth to lie when Rhydian walked past us to the door. Tom stepped in his path, stopping his exit.

"Let him go. He doesn't belong here." Maddy added which made both Rhydian and I tense. I winced at the words and moved to follow him when I felt Maddy grab my arm.

"Don't go after him." She ordered. I flinched. That was clearly an alpha order, and I knew not to go against one of those. I stopped in place and glared at her for ordering me around, but didn't go against it. I hated her right now. She was stopping me from going after him. I needed him. I wanted him. I don't know why, but I did.

I sighed as I kicked a stone along a road close to my foster parent's house. I had wanted to go out for a run but as soon as I got outside my energy just left me and I could barely gain enough will to simply walk down the road. I was depressed and angry. Maddy had told Rhydian to leave and pushed him away, then banned me from going after him. I was close to disobeying orders and chasing after him anyway but after being in a pack all my life, I knew if I tried I'd be thrown out of the pack.

"Stupid Smiths!" I growled as I kicked the stone into the woods to my right. I took a deep breath in, trying to calm myself down before I kneeled down onto the dirt path. I placed my hand on it and closed my eyes.

I wanted to find Rhydian. I knew how to find him, but I would be breaking every rule Emma gave me when she found out about the knowledge I had from my family. If I used this little trick I'd been taught she would hunt me down, even if I was nowhere near Maddy. I sighed and stood up, choosing to not chance the _full_ wrath of my new pack, maybe just part of it.

"I must be stupid." I muttered before I took off at a run, heading into the forest. I was going to find Rhydian and try to convince him to stay, using any tactic I knew. Maddy would hate me forever and perhaps try to throw me out of the pack, but I could deal with that. As long as I had Rhydian on my side, I'd somehow be okay.

Deciding the best course of action would be to check town for scents first, I sprinted at full speed towards Bernie's, it would be the best place to start since it was in the middle of town. I jumped over branches, leaped over streams, pushed myself through all the mud and twigs on the ground, keeping my balance as I ran as fast as I could over the uneven ground that would have severely injured a normal human by now. I slowed as I began to see the familiar buildings and began jogging into town. I noticed the line of year sevens and groaned. _Fantastic_ \- that meant Maddy would be here.

"Apologies, badger watchers. We're waiting for the last few stragglers to show and then we go. Five minutes." The teacher said before she headed around the corner. I continued onwards, knowing that the tunnel was the quickest way to the other side of the forest. It would take too long to run around the town. Maddy noticed me and smiled, clearly thinking I had forgiven her for pushing Rhydian away and telling me what to do.

"There you go. On loan from the photography club." Shannon said as she began handing out cameras to all the year sevens. I walked over slowly to them with a slightly animalistic grin, wanting to give them a little scare as revenge on Maddy.

"There's still room for a few new members." Maddy advertised just as I walked over. I gave them all a threatening smile.

"Yup, there is. I would just _love_ to spend time at lunch with you." I said adding on a little growl at the end. Tom and Shannon glared at me, Maddy looking at me with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

"Better sign up quick, though, yeah?" Tom added before both he and Maddy grabbed me by the arms and pulled me into Bernie's. I growled at them and tried to fight them off. I was on a time limit; I had to find Rhydian before he was gone for good.

"I still think we should tell someone, you know." Tom said to Maddy as he let go my arm. I glared at Maddy as she kept her hold on my arm, silently telling her to let go my arm if she wanted to keep hers.

"Yeah, tell Jeffries that the darkroom's been trashed. See how quickly he closes the club then." Maddy pointed out. I smiled at the revenge plan she'd given me before going back to my glaring.

"Let me go. I need to go." I growled.

"Are you going to buy anything or not?" Bernie asked, ignoring me being held hostage. Shannon sighed before she picked up a chocolate bar and set it in front of Bernie. He picked it up and looked up the back before holding his hand out to Shannon, "A pound. Thank you." He replied as Shannon passed him the correct change. Maddy pushed me over to the seats in the corner, glaring at me as I tried to fight my way to the door.

"Are yous coming on the badger walk too?" Tom asked as the three K's came in the door. I rolled my eyes at the stupid question; I mean seriously, the three K's? Nature? Walking? Not going to happen.

"As if." Kay retorted with an eye roll. I stopped fighting Maddy for a moment, trying a different tactic.

"Hey, Bernie, is Rhydian coming?" Kara asked making me stop planning my new attempt to flee, maybe Bernie new where Rhydian was.

"Who?" Bernie replied. Then again, maybe not.

"He's this tall." Kara said holding up her hand at the wrong height he was about two inches taller than that. Honestly, you'd think humans would have an eye for detail.

"And dreamy." Kay added.

"And Welsh." Katrina finished making me laugh, honestly she still hadn't picked up the fact Rhydian was not welsh.

"He's not Welsh." Kara and Kay told her, clearly annoyed with her insistent blonde comments.

"Ah, the Vaughans' new foster kid." Bernie answered making my eyes widen. Oh, not good! That's why he knew nothing about Wolfblood's; he didn't know what one was. Crap. I mean, I knew because I only went into care a few months ago, I was with my pack before that. If he didn't know and had started transforming... oh man.

"Rhydian's in foster care?" Maddy asked, suddenly sounding a lot more concerned for him. I glared at her more heatedly than I had before. She knew nothing about him yet she willingly sent him packing.

"Oh, aye. Must have been a bad boy, eh? To get moved all the way up here for a fresh start?" Bernie continued. Maddy's grip tightened on my arm, stopping me from taking off out of the shop and actually making me wince in pain.

"He's an orphan?" Katrina asked, sounding sorry for him. I growled at her so low only Maddy would be able to hear before I tried to free my arm again.

"I doubt it. Most foster kids have parents somewhere." Shannon commented. I looked at her.

"Some, but not all." I ground out, tugging my arm.

"He's separated from them. All alone in the world, stuck in a strange place, no-one to turn to, trying to make it in the world all alone." Katrina said, ignoring me completely. I glanced at Maddy, seeing Katrina's words actually affecting her and finally freed my arm. I glanced around the room before I took off at a sprint out the door. I was not waiting for Maddy to come to her senses, she'd take too long and Rhydian would be long gone by then. Once I was out in the open air I took a big whiff and tried to find a trail. I sighed as I couldn't smell anything. He'd left a while ago. I looked around before I frowned and thought about all the weird feelings I'd been having all day that had been related to Rhydian, maybe I could find him without actually using my trick or sense of smell.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in; trying to find the little connection I felt all the anger and sadness through earlier. I looked inside myself and felt myself grin as I felt the little tug at the bond. My eyes flew open and I took off at a run, going back the way I came. I heard Maddy also begin running, heading in my direction. I pushed myself to go faster, willing the connection to direct me towards Rhydian.

I ran up the hill as fast as I could, taking deep breaths as I kept up my pace. I kept to the road, no matter how much I preferred running in the woods.

"Rhydian!" I shouted once I caught a glance of him in front of me. I pushed myself harder, willing myself to get there quicker. Maddy was slightly behind me, also yelling his name.

"Don't worry, I'm out of here." Rhydian retorted after hearing Maddy's calls. I slowed slightly as I kept pace with him and turned to glare at Maddy, if she had kept her mouth shut we wouldn't be having any problems.

"Don't! I was stupid. I'm sorry. Don't go, we can help you." Maddy pleaded as she started skipping to keep pace at the other side of Rhydian. I growled at her in annoyance. She wasn't making this any easier.

"Help? I've had help. Counselling, Ritalin." Rhydian ranted making me wince. I touched his arm gently.

"We can really help." I told him honestly with a small smile. Rhydian returned the smile and slowed a little bit.

"You need to learn to control your wolf self before someone gets hurt, probably you." Maddy added making me groan in annoyance. Honestly! Was she trying to push him away?! Cause if she was, she was doing a great job!

"You're just like the rest of them!" Rhydian yelled at her before he took off running up the hill. I glared at the younger Wolfblood in front of me.

"Really Maddy? I mean, really?" I hissed as Rhydian made his getaway. Maddy muttered an apology to me. I looked at Rhydian before glancing back at her.

"I'll deal with it; go back to the Badger watch and get the members you need." I told her. Maddy opened her mouth to protest only to close it and nod once she noticed the look I was giving her. If she thought I was going to let her ruin this, she was deeply mistaken. Once I saw that she wasn't going to follow me, I turned to chase after Rhydian on the main road only to pause when Maddy grabbed my arm again.

"I'm really sorry." She whispered once more. I nodded and gave her a smallish smile before looking back up the hill. Maddy left a few moments later, running back towards town. I took a few steps forward, but paused before I could move much further.

"Please, let this be quicker." I muttered as I took off in to the trees on my left. I knew the woods like the back of my hands, so knew the small path that lead into the woods could be faster, especially if I could go at full speed without any humans seeing. Sprinting as fast as I could, I leapt, jumped and pushed myself. I needed to stop Rhydian before he left. I followed the path as it got closer to the road side and smiled as I felt the connection and heard the footfalls of Rhydian on the road. Listening to his footfalls, I could hear him as he started to slow down and finally come to a stop, taking a deep breath I chose this moment to jump out of the trees and plead with him to stay.

"I know about the Vaughans. I know you're alone." I told him as I ducked out of the woodland. Rhydian looked me over once before he replied.

"So?"

"I'm like you, you saw that." I reminded him, reaching out to grab his hand. He pulled back from me a second later, clearly still angry.

"You may be like me, you think the same as them. You're just trying to make me better. But, you know what? What I am, what I turn into, that is better. It's better than anything I've ever known and I'm not letting anyone take that away from me." Rhydian ranted. I winced at the familiar words that I had told myself when my pack had died.

"I'm not going to let you go, Rhydian. I can't let you go." I tried taking a step closer. Rhydian looked me over once and seemed to cool down for a second before he got annoyed again.

"Go ahead. Chase me, stop me! Use your wolfy powers and see how long it takes for someone to find out what you are. Because none of your mates know your little secret, do they?" I bit my lip and said nothing, shaking my head slightly, Rhydian mirrored the action and laughed bitterly, "I thought not. I've got nothing to lose here. Unlike you." Rhydian said angrily before he took off into the woodland beside us. I glared at his back before I took off after him.

"I have nothing to lose here either Rhydian. This isn't my territory and they aren't my friends. They're Maddy's friends. And, I think you'll find you do have something to lose, a chance of having friends, a pack..." I growled as I ran through the woods after him. I had no clue if he'd heard me or not, but continued pursuing him. Soon, my anger was forgotten, the adrenalin and thrill of running taking over, pushing the anger back as I ran.

Laughing as I chased him, we ran around trees through the leaves that covered the forest floor. Rhydian was fast, I'll give him that much. He also seemed to have a great knowledge of the forest on this side of town, almost as well as me. I grinned slyly and took off on a hard right, trying to lull him into a false sense of security. I followed him for a while only to get cut off from him as the trees got thicker. I growled in annoyance but pushed myself faster before I frowned, not seeing him where he should have been. I growled playfully and ran back on the path that Rhydian should have come down. I stopped beside a tree and frowned as I looked around, not seeing him.

"Oi!" A voice yelled from above me. I grinned as I looked up, already knowing who it was. Rhydian grinned back before he leapt down with a laugh. I laughed with him before I took off after him, running faster than I had in years. I heard Rhydian laughing as I battled through the tree's, and jumped over the small stream. He looked back and laughed making me laugh, before an idea struck me. I smiled as I noticed the perfectly positioned tree. I jumped and kicked off it, jumping onto Rhydian's back, making the pair of us tumble down the hill, the pair of us laughing as we rolled.

Rhydian pulled me so I was on top of him as we landed on the ground, making sure I got none of his weight on me. I blushed as I looked down at him with a small smile.

"You okay?" I whispered as I noticed the stone he landed on. Rhydian took a deep breath out before he smiled up at me.

"Yup." He said breathlessly making me grin, only to frown as I heard shuffling to our left. I looked up, seeing a pile of cameras pointed in our direction, I instantly jumped up off Rhydian's chest. I pulled down my jacket and smiled shyly at the small group who looked quite confused, or well everyone but Maddy who had rejoined the group.

"Sorry we're late, everyone. Seen any badgers yet?" I asked giving them a smile. The teacher who was with them glared at me and Rhydian as she walked past in a huff. My smile fell a little.

"No, you two have scared off every animal for miles. I'm sorry, everyone. We'll have to come back another day." She yelled at us. I noticed Rhydian tense a little and grabbed his hand on instinct. He smiled at me before looking back at the group of year sevens, who had been accompanied by Maddy, Tom and Shannon. Tom and Shannon glared at me before they made a last minute attempt to make others join the photography club.

"Join the photography club." Shannon muttered to everyone that passed as they handed back there borrowed cameras. I smiled at all the year sevens making them run away a little faster. I frowned only to sigh quietly as I regretted the little scare fest I'd had back at Bernie's.

"Anyone? No?" Tom asked as they passed, Maddy also trying to get a few year sevens to reconsider.

"Well done, Abi!" Shannon yelled. I gave her a small sheepish smile in return, my usual witty or sarcastic comments not making an appearance. I felt Rhydian squeeze my hand that he still had in his own and glanced back with a thankful glance.

"We were so close to getting new members and then you two had to mess everything up." Tom complained as he took in my messy, leafy appearance. I raised my free hand and began taking out some leaves.

"There's something important I have to," I started to offer as an explanation.

"What? More important than the photography club?" Tom cut me off. I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step forward.

"Yeah, actually! Rhydian is more important than that stupid club, especially since it's a club that I didn't want to be a part of in the first place." I replied, earning a glare out of both Tom and Shannon. I glanced at Maddy, telling her I needed her help to get them to believe me.

"The thing is Rhydian and I... are related. Distant cousins. He's the black sheep of the family, and I didn't want him here. So I treated him badly, which is why he lashed out and trashed the darkroom." Maddy started before she paused, I jumped in to continue the story.

"Rhydian wanted to leave but... uh... since I'd known him when I was in care, I went to go and convince him to stay and work things out with Maddy. I went after him."

"You don't have to be best friends, but Rhydian's part of my life now. And that's that." Maddy defended. I nodded my head along with her last part. Tom and Shannon looked over Rhydian and me before they both sighed.

"OK. Sure." Shannon agreed. I grinned and squeezed Rhydian's hand as I looked up at him. He looked at me with a small smile before looking back at the other two.

"Welcome to Stoneybridge, mate...You really don't like football?" Tom asked making both me and Rhydian let out a breath of laughter. Rhydian shook his head and looked back down at the ground.

"Right, well, I am frozen. So can we just go?" Shannon asked. Maddy nodded her head while Tom voiced his agreement. I smiled at her and gestured for the three of them to go on ahead of us. I let go of Rhydian's hand and took a few steps forward before I turned back to him with a grin.

"You might want to stay here and warm up...It's a long walk back to Wales." I teased with a wink. Rhydian looked at me for a moment.

"I'm not even Wel...Oh!" He muttered, nodding his head as he got my little jest.

The five of us had travelled back to Bernie's, Tom, Shannon and Maddy needing some hot chocolate or well anything to warm them up, I was still pretty warm from all the running I had done while chasing Rhydian. Tom was sitting at the top of the table, Rhydian to his right, me next to him. Maddy was on Tom's left, with Shannon beside her. I had bought everyone a cup of hot chocolate as a sorry for scaring of the year sevens and for ruining the badger walk and the five of us were now sitting at our usual table, sipping from the piping hot liquid in front of us.

"Here's to the late, great, Bradlington High photography club. It was fun while it lasted, yeah?" Tom said holding up his mug. Maddy, Shannon and I shared a look before shrugging and raising our own mugs, Rhydian following our lead. We all hit out cups together as the four of us remembered the fun moments we'd had inside our darkroom.

I took my mug back and hugged it to my chest, loving the warmth I could feel spreading from where I'd placed it. Maddy looked over at me and rolled her eyes but smiled as she drank from her mug, she was used to my little quirks by now, Rhydian however was not and when I looked over at him I saw him staring at me like I was crazy. I frowned and looked down blushing, moving the mug away from my chest and drinking it like a normal human. I felt a nudge under the table and looked up at Maddy, believing that was where the kick had come from; she frowned at me before nodding her head over to Rhydian beside me. I followed her gaze smiling as I saw Rhydian doing what I had been doing a moment before. He grinned at me before moving the mug to drink out of it. I opened my mouth to comment when a shadow loomed over me. I turned and groaned when I saw who it was.

"We have a proposition for you." Kara admitted making me and the rest of the group frown. I glanced back at Mads before looking back at the three K's in front of me.

"You've got a proposition for us?" Maddy questioned just as confused as the rest of us. The K's never talked to us, unless it was to make fun of us, they'd never asked us for help before. The three of them would normally rather go to school without makeup than ask us four for anything, this must be important.

"It's this competition. It'll cost too much to get our photos done professionally." Kara told us.

"And we need a photolio." Katrina continued. I sighed and looked down.

"Portfolio." Kay corrected.

"Both." Katrina agreed making me chuckle and shake my head. Katrina was a right character.

"So, if you take our photos, we'll join your photography club." Kara proposed. I looked back over at our group, shaking my head. I didn't like the group now, how could adding those three make it any better? Clearly by the looks on Tom, Maddy's and Shannon's faces they agreed with my thoughts.

"And everybody wins." Kay cheered. I sighed and looked over at the three of them.

"Nope. No deal. We do not want you in our darkroom." I declined. The three K's glared at me.

"We're not actually going anywhere near your manky darkroom. We'll just put our names down so Jeffries keeps it open." Kara bit out, rolling her eyes a little as if I was stupid for even thinking it. I sighed and looked over at Mad's shrugging my shoulders; I was okay with it if they came nowhere near me.

"Do we have a deal?" Kara asked finally. Maddy, Tom and Shannon shared a smirk before Maddy stood up. She spat on her hand then held it out to them, I bit out a laugh and turned to see the three's reaction to the slightly disgusting offer.

"Puh-lease!" Kara bit out moving away from the spit covered hand.

"Euuuw!" Katrina groaned as Kay instead moved around so she was between Rhydian and me. I grimaced as I was practically shunned from the table and pushed off my seat, deciding to stand up out the way.

"Is Rhydian joining?" Kay asked clearly flirting with him. I glared, biting back a growl, as the girl leaned in closer to him. I could feel the disgust radiating from Rhydian but it did nothing for me as I got more and more agitated with Kay the longer she sat in my chair. It didn't help that Maddy, Tom and Shannon were doing nothing to stop Kay, and just laughed.

"No." Rhydian bit back, uninterested in the three K's. I felt a small smile creep onto my face and a little smugness at the fact that Rhydian actually liked me as a person. Feeling a pair of glares on my back, I turned to see Kara and Katrina. Sighing, I decided I should go; I didn't really want to risk wolfing out in front of them because I couldn't keep my anger in. I placed my mug back on the table.

"I better go. I was supposed to be home... about two hours ago." I muttered as I saw the time for the first time since I'd left the house. I heard Maddy, Rhydian and Tom chuckle but just shrugged it off.

"I'll see you lot tomorrow." I told them before I turned and strolled out of the door, not real rush to get back to my foster parents who wouldn't even really care that I was two hours late, or , well, they'd ground me but since they were leaving tomorrow and there was no way I'd keep up the punishment while they were away.

I hadn't walked far when I heard a person running towards me. On instinct I took a deep breath, sighing as I recognised the scent of Maddy. I turned and looked back at her. She stopped once she reached me, making me frown.

"What's up?" I asked. She scratched the back of her head before glancing back at the blonde Wolfblood who was just leaving Bernie's. I nodded in understanding, "You want me to talk to him."

"Yeah, it's just , he doesn't really like me." She told me. I bit my lip to stop me mentioning the reason why and nodded my head. She smiled at me and patted my back in thanks before she took off back over to Tom and Shannon, the three of them walking off. I took a deep breath before I ran over to Rhydian's side.

"Rhydian!" I called, gaining his attention. He stopped and waited for me as I ran over. I smiled at him, "I'll walk home with you."

"I never said I was staying." He told me, looking down at the ground appearing guilty about the fact that he was still thinking about leaving. I frowned at him, before a bit of a cheeky grin fell on my face.

"That's a pity...I mean; you've got a fan club." I teased, gesturing with my head back to the window where I'd noticed the three K's watching Rhydian leaving from. I smiled as I watched him listening into their conversation, a small grimace on his features as he heard what they were saying about him. I kept a smile on my face, although my inner self was crying out in anger at what they had said.

"If that doesn't scare you off, nothing will." I told him, making Rhydian smile a little.

The two of us walked up the road we'd been chasing along earlier, neither of us in any real rush to get home, or well, I wasn't anyway. Rhydian was silent the whole way, a little frown on his face as he thought making him look cute. _Whoa! What?_ I shook my head of my thoughts and decided that the pair of us should take a slight detour. Grabbing his hand I pulled him into the woodland that surrounded us.

"So... if you're not from Wales, how do you get named Rhydian?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I lead him over to my favourite place in the whole of Stoneybridge, the stream that ran past my house.

"My mum was Welsh. I think." Rhydian answered. I nodded my head as I took in the information.

"How long have you been in foster care?" I asked, seeing no questions coming from him.

"Since I was two." He replied before a frown appeared on his face, "What about you?" I frowned at the question, how'd he know I was in care? ...lunch. I'd told him at lunch.

"About six months back, my foster parents only took me in because they knew my real parents." I admitted to him. Rhydian nodded his head. I looked ahead seeing the stream now in front of us, deciding I should ask the big question now.

"Does anyone know what you are?" I asked, Rhydian didn't reply so I took that as a no and continued, "So... What did you do for the full moon last night?"

"I couldn't stay in my bedroom, could I? I climbed out of my window." He told me. I smiled.

"So it was your scent I smelled and paw-print that Shannon found! Was it your first change?" I asked, now more excited. Rhydian glanced up at me before looking back down at the ground with a small frown on his face.

"Second. The first got me chucked out of my last foster home." He admitted to me. I winced.

"What happened?" I questioned, unsure whether I should actually be digging into this.

"Don't know. I went to bed and woke up in a ditch. Turns out I trashed my bedroom, so they kicked me out." I grimaced but nodded my head; it was understandable for a human foster parent.

"Must have been hard." I muttered with sympathy, I'd never had that problem while I was in care. I had known what would happen and so I knew when to leave for the night. I was lucky to have been in a pack before I went into care.

"Anyway, what about you? I mean, full moons must be epic out here." He questioned. I grinned and looked up at the sky.

"They are. It's amazing. The only problem is that the Smiths are, well, they want me to start using their den. Last night was my fourth time transforming, my first in Stoneybridge." I told him. Rhydian frowned at the mention of den but decided not to ask instead choosing another topic.

"What about Smelly girl?" I chuckled at the name but looked down at the ground.

"She... she hasn't started transforming yet." I told him. A mixture of a smug and cheeky grin appeared on Rhydian's face.

"So, I know more about this stuff than she does?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, you're the expert. That's why you lost it with Jimmy in front of half the school." I laughed, not bringing up how the connection we seemed to have nearly made me transform as well. I let go of his hand as I jumped down onto the rocks in the stream, grinning to myself as I leapt from one to the next.

"I didn't know that could happen. I only thought werewolves went hairy at the full moon." Rhydian admitted to me. I smiled and swivelled on the rock I was standing on to face him.

"We feel the urge to change when we feel threatened or angry too. Learn to control it, and you can transform whenever you want." I explained with a grin as I turned to hop back onto the bank.

"How do you know all this stuff?" The blonde Wolfblood behind me asked. I sighed quietly.

"My mum and dad taught me before, uh, before they died." I muttered in response. I heard him take in a sharp breath of air as if he'd been hit in the gut, I turned in panic only to see the concern and sadness he was feeling. I frowned; the sadness in his eyes was about the same I felt when I thought about them. I turned my back on him and closed my eyes, wanting to test something. I began thinking of the tree's, running, being a Wolfblood; everything that made me happy. Opening my eyes, I turned back around to see Rhydian looking a bit better though still holding some sadness and concern. I gave him a smile and decided I would keep my emotions more in check until I knew more about what on earth was happening to the two of us.

"You had parents like us?" He asked. I nodded my head with a small smile.

"Yeah, and it's Wolfblood, not werewolf. We're not monsters." I reprimanded a little, walking over to a fallen tree trunk so I could balance along it instead.

"The weird thing is I don't even remember being bitten." Rhydian murmured. I looked over at him, biting my bottom lip to try and stop the laugh escaping, Rhydian glared as he noticed I was sniggering making it turn into a chuckle.

"Bitten? You don't get bitten." I corrected through a chuckle. Rhydian's glare darkened but I could see a hint of humour reflected in his features.

"Don't laugh at me." He snapped. I bit my lip again and took a deep breath before replying.

"Sorry. It's just... You really do have a lot to learn." I admitted. Rhydian smiled at me a little as I turned to face him fully from the old tree I was on.

"Well, teach me then, freaky girl." He teased earning a light glare from me before I burst out laughing. I nodded my head and took a seat on the tree, my legs dangling down, my feet nearly in the water. Rhydian watched me from where he stood smiling lightly at me, I felt heat rise in my cheeks but ignored it, instead patting the space beside me, gesturing for him to join me. Rhydian grinned and hoped up beside me as I looked down at the water below.

"When I first asked my mum about my abilities this is what she told me. She said; you were born this way. You're normal. Look around. Everything you thought made you a freak. Made you different...Sight, hearing, speed, sense of smell... they're all completely normal for a Wolfblood. They make you special, they make you, you." I explained looking around the forest as I took in everything I could.

"So, say I did stick around, only for a bit, no promises..." Rhydian trailed off breaking me from my thoughts about the forest. I smiled at him.

"You'd have a pack at last, people to teach you." I offered. Rhydian grimaced and began shaking his head.

"Oh, no. No rules, no lectures, you can keep your group hugs and your big, furry family, I'll do things my way." He muttered making me laugh.

"Aw, you don't want a group hug?" I teased as I put my arms around him in a hug making Rhydian chuckle. I laughed as I pulled away before I looked up at him.

"So...A lone wolf, huh?" I asked earning a nod. I sighed, "Next time you lose control over your wolf self, what happens then?" Rhydian just smirked at me.

"Well, that'll be an interesting day, won't it?"


	3. Mysterious Developments - Pt1

I smiled to myself as I made my way down the road towards the school. It had been a few days since the whole Rhydian arriving and territory problems thing, and even in that short amount of time Rhydian and I had become close. He was quickly becoming my new best friend, and it was easier to talk to him about problems, both Wolfblood and normal ones, than it was to talk to Maddy. Rhydian, he just, he understood me in a way I don't think any other Wolfblood or human ever could, it was the weirdest relationship I've ever had with a person but I wouldn't give it up for anything.

"What you so happy about?" The ever familiar voice asked making a full blown grin appear on my face. I looked up at the tree where we normally met, seeing him nearly at the top of it – a silent challenge we had started, he was higher than I had been yesterday.

"Today's just one of those days." I offered with a shrug. Rhydian chuckled before he jumped down so he was beside me on the forest track we walked along every morning. I shook my head at him as I pulled my jacket tighter, zipping it up.

"Why do you even tie your hair up? You always redo it after the run you have at lunch." The blonde beside me asked suddenly, tugging my ponytail gently. I glanced over at him with a shrug.

"Routine?" Rhydian nodded his head with a frown seeming still confused about it. I rolled my eyes and sighed, pulling out my phone only for my eyes to widen when I noticed the time on the display. We were late.

"We're late... again." I muttered quickening my pace to a light jog, or well a run for a human. Rhydian instantly joined me at my pace but continued frowning at me.

"Since when do you care about being late? I haven't known you that long but I already know you're not one for rules." He pointed out.

"I can't get a detention tonight or tomorrow; I've got to go over to Maddy's house." I explained to him. Rhydian made a noise of understanding before picking up the pace, offering a race. I felt a small smirk tug at my lips before quickening my pace to match him, the pair of us taking off at a run towards the school.

I still couldn't believe I'd only met Rhydian a few days ago. It seemed like a lot longer given just how well we seemed to be able to read each other. The connection we had made it easier, I suppose, to understand how he felt about a topic but even if we didn't have it, I'm betting I still could guess how he's feeling. Rhydian was one of the best things that had happened to me since I'd moved to Stoneybridge, and it had become my own personal mission to make sure he stayed here too, no matter what. Rhydian had become the one thing that kept me going, the one thing I needed in life... and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

The two of us arrived at the school, slowing down to a walk after we'd come out of the woods. There were still students all over the playground meaning we weren't too late after all. I sighed out in relief at that, knowing that meant that I would be on time for the dinner thing the Smiths had planned, unless of course something unexpected happened. I grinned over at Rhydian, opening my mouth to ask him about a lunchtime run when I heard a car pull up. I turned, sighing when I saw it was Emma and Maddy. I looked back over at my shoulder at Rhydian.

"I'll meet you in class. I need to talk to Mads." I told him. Rhydian nodded his head and made his way into the school as I turned around, heading over to the car.

"Thanks, Mam." Maddy said just as I arrived at her door. I smiled and waved at the two.

"Hi Mrs Smith, hi Mads." I greeted. Emma smiled at me.

"Hi Abi, how's Stuart and Helen?" She asked. I gave her a strained smile.

"Great, away on another business trip though, won't be back til Monday." Maddy smiled at me sadly as she hopped out the car, gaining Emma's attention again.

"And you. Next time you miss the bus, you can walk to school!" Emma rip remanded making a small smirk appear on my face.

"If I ran, I'd get here before the bus!" Maddy retorted. I nodded my head in agreement, I used to run every day but the problem was that people got suspicious of how I got to school so early since Helen and Stuart were away most of the time. I had to stop running because I ran out of excuses to give for my early arrival time. I had just strolled through the woods for a while before school started instead.

"Don't forget to invite Rhydian round for dinner. We need to talk to him about transforming safely." Emma whispered. I rolled my eyes and looked down at the ground. The talk was stupid, but I guess if he was to stay here he'd have to put up with it, or well, for now at least. I was trying to convince Emma, Dan and Maddy that we could run on the moors without any trouble, but Shannon and her 'beast' were causing me problems.

"Just let me talk to him first." Maddy tried making a snort of laughter come out of me, yeah like Rhydian would listen to her. I felt Maddy nudge me in the side, shutting me up.

"No, Maddy, invite him round." Emma ordered, looking over at me more so than her daughter. I sighed quietly but nodded my head, making sure I'd invite him round if Maddy didn't.

"Mam!" Mads complained, Emma ignored her and looked around the playground.

"Which one is he anyway?" She asked before using her Wolfblood senses and taking a sniff of the air, "That's him, isn't it?"

"Can't hide anything from a Wolfblood." Maddy murmured looking down seeming embarrassed.

"Poor lad. Imagine going through all that on your own." Emma muttered her voice layered with pity. I looked over in Rhydian's direction and nodded. Rhydian had had it hard, especially going through his first transformation alone. I knew what it felt like to be on your own for transformations, and I wouldn't wish that on any other Wolfblood. I was just lucky I knew what was happening, Rhydian on the other hand had not. The only good thing that came from being on your own for transformations was that you could run where ever you liked. Running as a wolf through the forest was like nothing in your wildest imagination... it was incredible.

"Look, Mam, I've got to go." Maddy muttered trying to shut the door on her mother and the conversation. Emma though had other ideas.

"This is serious. He could expose us all." Emma stressed making me growl.

"He's not an idiot. He's knows how to control his wolf." I defended. Emma frowned at me, worry written all over her face.

"There's also something else we need to talk to you and Rhydian about, Abi." Emma admitted. Maddy looked between the two of us before sighing and pushing me back towards the school.

"Look, I'll talk to him. Just promise not to embarrass him." Maddy bargained.

"Of course not. I'm not entirely without tact!" Emma retorted seemingly offended by what Maddy had said. I nodded my goodbye before I turned, planning on heading into the school so I could hang out with Rhydian before class. I was a few steps away from the door when I heard a car horn blaring. I twisted back to see Emma leaning towards the passenger side a small smile on her face, "Tell him Wednesday's hog roast night!"

I rolled my eyes and let out a small chuckle at the woman but continued on my way into the school. I made my way up to my locker, pausing when something caught my eye. I back tracked a few steps, frowning as I spotted a poster on the window, an arrow pointing to a shape below a fallen tree. Looking closer at the picture, the figure sort of looked sort of like a wolf... that's not good, especially if this was taken by you-know- who. She would be telling everyone about this, meaning more people would go up there and try and snap a picture.

"Have you seen this?" Rhydian asked, holding up a sheet of paper with the same picture on it as he made his way towards me. I nodded my head, looking back down at the picture in my own hands.

"This... this isn't good." I muttered. Rhydian glared at me.

"It's worse than not good. Why were you out last night?" He asked. I frowned and looked up at him.

"I wasn't. I thought it was you." He frowned down at me.

"I wasn't either." We both looked down at our own posters again, trying to see if we recognised anything that could give us a hint as to who it might be. I tilted my head and held the poster a distance away from me.

"Well... it's zoomed in a lot. It could just be a dog or fox." I offered with a shrug. Rhydian nodded his head.

"Yeah, yeah, it's probably just a stray dog." He agreed looking up at me with a small smile. I bit my lip and looked back down at the paper before sighing and rolling it up into a ball, throwing it into the nearest bin. The quickest way to get rid of this problem was to just forget about it, for everyone to move on and forget that the photo was even taken. I turned on my heel and headed towards our classroom, hoping everyone just thought Shan was weird or had faked it or something.

"It looks a like a wolf." Liam said just as I reached the doorway making me pause and close my eyes. Rhydian was just behind me also pausing as he heard what Liam had said. I could feel the glare from Maddy on the side of my face. Not good was turning into really bad. Deciding to play it slightly safe, I stayed just outside the door and listened in; hoping someone would say it's a lie.

"Were you scared?" Sam asked as the same time I felt a strange empty like feeling, making me frown. I peeked open an eye and glanced behind me, seeing no Rhydian. Sighing, I closed my eyes again and cursed the stupid connection.

"Nah! I've been up on the moors searching for proof for years." Shannon replied playing the tough act. Right now, I really wanted to give her a good scare so she wouldn't go back to the moors ever again.

"You call this proof?" Jimi questioned as he appeared beside me, calling bluff on the pictures. My ears perked up and I opened my eyes looking at Jimi, wanting to watch this exchange. For once in my life I was actually happy for Jimi's presence. Hopefully more people would take Jimi's side.

"Yeah, I call it proof. What do you call it?" Shannon replied, not keen on being called a liar.

"Photoshop?" Jimi suggested making me grin and the others in the class laugh. Maddy's glare increased as she saw my grin making it fall. I sighed; there was just no pleasing some people.

"You can laugh all you like, but I've got the card from the camera in the darkroom with the original raw files. You can't fake those!" Shannon countered. I banged my head off the door frame, feeling stupid for not going to take the card and getting rid of it. That's what both Mads and I should have done as soon as we found out about the pictures.

"Fine. Let's see it, then." Jimi challenged. Shannon smiled smugly at him as she pushed past the two of us, leading the group towards the darkroom. I moved around them, planning to sit in the class until either Rhydian came back or it started, when I felt Maddy grab my arm and start dragging me down after her. I rolled my eyes but allowed myself to be taken.

The group of us arrived at the dark room door, Shannon glancing back at Jimi smugly, before she put the key in the lock and turned it, allowing all of us into the now tidy, non-trashed, dark room. I fell onto the chair to the right of the door and leaned forwards, wanting to see what would happen. Shannon went over to her desk and looked at the thing that help the memory card and connected it to the computer, getting more frantic when she couldn't find it. I frowned, sitting up slightly and took a big whiff of the air, trying to distinguish who had taken the memory card so I could take it from them and get rid of it myself, only to breathe out in relief as I recognised the amazing smell of Rhydian.

"It was right here!" Shannon defended turning to face the group that had come to see the evidence.

"Oh, maybe the monster took it?" Jimi mocked making the class laugh and annoying Shannon more.

"Someone took it!" Shannon repeated. I sighed and stood up; Wolfblood's were in the clear, it was none of my business anymore. Shannon would just have to get over it.

"Don't tell me, it's a conspiracy." Jimi taunted further making me roll my eyes. He was an idiot, an idiot who made fun of others just because he had his own family issues. I'd heard him talking to Liam and Sam about it once, but I wasn't going to use it against him in any way, not like I could say much with my own family situation, or lack of it. I stood up and made my way over to the door, not really interested now that I knew Rhydian had taken care of the problem.

"Shan, leave it, he's not worth it." Maddy insisted. I opened the door silently and crept out, not too keen to get in the middle of Shannon Kelly's memory card rampage and Jimi. Not to mention, Jimi was a butthead and deserved a few hits to the head, might knock some sense into him.

"You took it, didn't you? To make me look like an idiot!" I heard Shan accuse as I walked away from the room, heading towards class, I knew Rhydian would be there waiting.

Slowly, I walked to up to the classroom door, where I noticed Rhydian was leaning against. I had a small confident smile on my face as I slid up next to him. Rhydian looked down at me, a small smile on his face as well.

"Good job. No evidence, no wolf." I commented. Rhydian nodded his head.

"That's what I thought." A few people passing by looked at us strangely as they went past making me frown and lower my voice to a whisper, we didn't need some stupid gossip spreader to overhear our conversation.

"Where is it?" Rhydian patted his shirt pocket in reply before he wandered in; I smiled and looked down before I followed, no longer worried about the supposed 'beast' on the moors.

Sighing in annoyance, I threw the chalk down onto the desk beside me. I hated art, it was stupid. Why did I need to know how to draw a fish? Or a boat? Simple answer, I didn't need to. It was just a way to waste my time. Art had been and always would be a thing that angered me, the fact that I was rubbish at it and could barely draw a stick figure made it ten times more infuriating but now, sitting beside Rhydian and seeing how great he was... I felt more embarrassed than anything else.

Rhydian looked over as he noticed my mini temper tantrum, chuckling as he saw my work. I glared at him heatedly, not enjoying how much pleasure he took from seeing my shameful picture of the ocean; I mean a five year old could have done better. Rhydian stopped chuckling after he noticed my glare and picked up the discarded piece of chalk in his own hand.

"You need to stop pressing so hard with the chalk, be gentle with it." He instructed, placing the chalk in my hand before covering it with his own and helping me with the fish. I felt a weird jolt as his hand touched mine, and took a deep breath in - his amazing scent surrounding me. I watched as he made my hands draw the outline of a perfect fish and smiled at the blonde.

"Thank you." I breathed, glancing around the room before I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. A blush spread all over both our faces and I quickly looked down, shuffling away from him slightly. Rhydian coughed awkwardly before he went back to his own work.

"I know one of you took it." Maddy said as she appeared next to us suddenly. I glanced up at her with a smile.

"Yeah, you can thank me later." Rhydian muttered as he continued drawing.

"You made Shannon look like a total idiot." Maddy hissed, glaring at the pair of us. I frowned at her a low growl building in my throat as she glared at Rhydian.

"Tough." I ground out, gaining Mads attention.

"If you two weren't wolfing out in the woods, Shannon wouldn't have got a picture on the first place." Maddy retorted. Rhydian looked up and glared at her, me doing the same.

"It wasn't us!" He defended, a low growl vibrating from his chest. Maddy glared back at the two of us.

"Then who was it?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow, trying to catch one of us out, looking more pointedly at Rhydian than me.

"I'm always guilty until proven innocent, aren't I?" Rhydian muttered, going back to his work. I sighed and looked down; Maddy really had been quick to blame him for everything.

"Our wolf pack hasn't been sighted in Stoneybridge for years. You come along and suddenly Shannon's got a picture. Come on!" Maddy hissed. I looked up at her with a disapproving frown. She wasn't doing anything for herself and most certainly wasn't going to become friends with him if she kept blaming him for every little thing. I knew Rhydian was innocent, he told me it wasn't him and I believed him.

"It couldn't be one of your parents?" Rhydian countered. I sighed and shook my head.

"They don't wolf out in public, but that doesn't mean it was us Maddy." I told him, glaring over at Maddy. She rolled her eyes at me.

"You took that memory card to cover your own backs." She accused, Rhydian growled.

"I took it to protect us. If you'd rather protect your idiot friend's reputation, then go ahead." He whispered angrily, slamming the memory card down onto the table in front of Maddy. I shook my head at her as she picked it up and pocketed it.

"She's not an idiot." Maddy defended. I looked down and took a calming breath.

"If that's all you wanted Maddy, get lost." I muttered. The youngest Wolfblood growled at me, earning a similar reaction from Rhydian, before she marched off back to the table that consisted of her, Tom and Shannon. I folded my arms and rested them on the table, placing my head down on top, angling myself so I could watch Rhydian draw, fed up of my own failed attempts at drawing. I saw Rhydian smile at me before he dived back into his work, a small content smile on my face as I looked on.

"Want to go for a run?" A voice asked as I pulled open my locker. I looked behind me before looking at the time and shrugging my shoulders as I threw some books in.

"I suppose... where to?" Rhydian held up the poster from earlier with the wolf under the tree. I frowned and shut my locker, leaning against it.

"Why would we go there?" I asked. Rhydian smiled and tucked the paper in his pocket before he looked back up at me. I tilted my head as I waited for an explanation as to why I would go to the area where Shannon had previously taken the photo.

"If we can find it, we can try and sniff out who or what it was, or talk to anyone that lives around there and see if they saw anything. Then clear our names with Maddy." Rhydian shrugged making me roll my eyes. I doubted if anyone saw anything. Most Wolfblood's not were as talkative or keen to be seen or, well, as _tame_ as us. If this was a Wolfblood, which I strongly believed, I was betting on the fact they lived in the wild. We probably shouldn't go investigate without Maddy, Emma or Dan... But I lived for running.

"Let's go." I grinned, turning and heading out towards the playground. Rhydian followed on behind me. The two of us walked as far as the goal posts before I glanced at him with a cheeky grin, silently challenging him to a race. I had a general idea of where the log was and knew a short cut, but Rhydian didn't need to know that until I had beaten him. Rhydian smiled back and nodded his head, before he took off at a sprint, leaving me behind. I laughed a little and took off after him, not too concerned about the little head start he had managed to get.

The two of us sprinted through the trees, kicking up leaves as we ran. I laughed as he nearly ran into a branch and jumped over a bush to go around him. We ran for miles, ending up chasing each other in circles. Laughing. Jumping. Running. Eventually we caught sight of the area and had to slow down, Rhydian stopping and taking the picture out of his pocket. I moved so I was beside him and grinned. We were here. I took a few steps forward, intending to do a sweep of the area.

Rhydian moved to the large tree trunk and began to examine it, walking along the side of it with me beside him, when I smelled a human scent in the area. I stopped, Rhydian running into the back of me, forcing me forward slightly with a grunt. I turned and glared at him, holding a finger up to my mouth telling him to shut up. He nodded his head but walked around me, standing in front of me with a small frown on his face. I peered over his shoulder with a frown, sighing in annoyance when I saw Shannon.

"It's only Shannon." I muttered, walking noisily through the leaves so she wouldn't get scared. Rhydian nodded his head before he ducked down and made his way through the trees. I frowned but followed, feeling slightly guilty for my anger when I noticed the girl was actually crying. I shared a glance with Rhydian, looking down as he started conversation.

"Hay fever?" He asked, Shannon saying nothing in reply, just looking at us. I walked closer with a small encouraging smile and kneeled down so I was beside her, Rhydian standing behind me, "Looking for the monster, I suppose?" He continued. I threw my hand back and hit him on the leg for the insensitive comment.

"Rhydian, just leave it, OK?" She pleaded, wiping away more tears. I smiled at her and sat down, Rhydian following my lead and taking a seat on my right.

"Just ignore him" I told her earning a small smile of thanks from her. I grinned a little before a frown came over my face as I looked around "...In all the time I've known you Shannon, you've always been looking for this beast that you think lives on the moors...Why are you so interested in it?" I asked.

Shannon looked at me for a moment, judging if she could tell me or not. I looked back at her, trying to convince her I was just curious, not wanting to make fun of her, she sighed and looked away, "I was seven. I was on this camping trip with the Brownies not far from here." She started. I nodded my head following along when Rhydian snorted.

"You were in the Brownies?" He chuckled making me smile, only to frown when I saw Shannon's look of annoyance. I turned and hit him on the shoulder.

"Shut up." I told him before I turned back to the girl on my left, "Continue."

"All the tents were arranged in a little circle. I was sharing with Kay..." this time it was me to cut her off.

"Kay? As in Kay from school Kay?" I questioned in disbelief a sudden urge to go and tease her arising. Shannon frowned at me making me wince and mutter an apology.

"Yeah. She was my best friend. Anyway, we'd all gone to bed for the night. But I couldn't sleep. There were sounds of things outside, probably badgers and stuff, but you know how your imagination plays tricks. I was playing shadow monsters. Then there was a real shadow on the outside. So I turned off my torch and it came closer. It was right over us. I thought it was just one of my friends. So I unzipped the tent to have a look...and there it was. This monstrous face! Hairy, with these yellow eyes. I screamed so loudly, it woke up the whole camp. By the time they got to me, the monster it had disappeared. But I managed to freak out Kay and the others so much they had to call the whole trip off." Shannon revealed. I looked over at Rhydian, raising an eyebrow at him at the clear description of a Wolfblood. He nodded his head in agreement.

"So what do you think it was?" Rhydian asked. Shannon looked up.

"I don't know. But when I got back to school, everyone had heard, started making fun of me. I was even sent to a child psychologist." She told us, making me and Rhydian frown.

"What for?" I asked, a slight feeling of guilt flooding through me, for all the times I'd told Maddy her friends were crazy and annoying.

"I wouldn't shut up about what I'd seen. Everyone said I was just doing it for attention." Shannon bit out, clearly still not over the teasing. I looked down at the muddy ground, picking up a stick beside me and poking the dirt as I tried to get over the guilt that had washed over me in ten folds. I had been so keen to get rid of Shannon and her prowling on the moors, I didn't stop to think about the reason she had started the hunt in the first place. I felt Rhydian pick up my hand closest to him and squeeze it. I squeezed his in return, a small sad smile making its way onto my face. Rhydian looked past me at Shannon.

"It's not nice to be accused of lying, is it?" Rhydian asked her as he sneakily pulled me closer so I was now leaning against him. I threw the stick away before I turned and looked at her, waiting for her reply.

"Exactly." She agreed with a small smile at the two of us, the three of us sharing a moment of understanding. I smiled at her in return, nodding my head. I felt Rhydian shuffle beneath me and lifted myself up a little.

"You know chocolate helps hay fever." He added as he revealed a chocolate bar from a pocket in his bag, handing the bar over to Shannon. I turned my head to look at him with a frown, when did he get that?

"Are you sure you don't want it?" Shannon questioned as she accepted the bar from him. I turned back to face her.

"Nah, I'm good." He breathed out, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me back into him. I felt a grin tug at my mouth as his scent engulfed my nose, and didn't fight him to sit back up. He was comfortable and warm. Shannon didn't blink twice at the action, her attention on the bar of chocolate in her hand.

"Vegan chocolate?" She read looking up at us with a frown. I shrugged my shoulders and scrunched up my nose; that sounded disgusting.

"My foster parents are vegetarians." Rhydian admitted to her, giving my side a squeeze before pulling the two of us to our feet. I gave him a smile and squeezed the hand on my waist before removing it and bending down to pat Shannon's shoulder.

"Enjoy!" I cheered to her, before I turned and took Rhydian's hand, dragging him away from the red head on the ground. The two of us made sure we were out of human hearing range before we began talking. I looked over at Rhydian, releasing his hand.

"So, no scent?" I asked, realising that I had been paying so much attention to Shannon I hadn't sniffed around. My blonde haired companion shook his head.

"Nope. Nothing. All I could smell was you and Shannon." He admitted. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair which had, once again, become loose.

"I guess we're still to blame then." I muttered with a huff. Rhydian smirked a little but sighed as well.

"Ab's were always going to be to blame." He muttered a little sourly. I frowned at him, moving in to hug him.

"No we're not. Maddy just wants the blame to be laid close to home; she doesn't want to believe what's right in front of her wolfy nose." I admitted to him. I wasn't sure if that was the case, but it's the only logical explanation I could come up with if she was blaming us and not any wild Wolfblood's that could be lurking around. She just didn't want to accept the truth.

I looked up at Rhydian as I pulled away, frowning as I noticed the look of confusion on his face. I tiled my head also confused at his reaction, before remembering his lack of knowledge on the Wolfblood front. I opened my mouth to comment but before I could explain what I was thinking the distinct sounds of car engines and a guns going off reached our ears. I tensed; my head turning from side to side as I tried to pick out where it was coming from. Rhydian growled as he located it to the east, moving in front of me just in case it was a threat. He slowly began pushing me back, silently telling me to run. I gripped his hand, which I'd noticed was beginning to fill with wolf blood, and tugged him back. I wasn't leaving without him.

He eventually got the hint, gripping my hand firmly and pulling me towards the west, the two of us sprinting back towards our houses and away from the gun.

It was Wednesday. Hog Roast night, the best day of the week by far. Plus, it meant that I didn't have to cook for myself. Bonus! Rhydian had laughed at me when I'd admitted all this to him, saying if I didn't want to cook I could easily just come round to his foster parents house for food. I had smiled at him but shook my head. No way was I eating with Veggies. I liked my meat too much.

Rhydian and I were now in the lunch line, I wasn't really in it -more just keeping him company - and whereas I wasn't feeling as hungry today, Rhydian was practically drooling over just the prospect of getting some food. I watched him from behind as he jumped up and down in anticipation, desperately wanting meat; I hadn't the heart to tell him that today was the Vegetarian day. As I watched him I began laughing, remembering the first day I'd met him when our situation was somewhat reversed - me being the food deprived one and him being the not so hungry one. He heard me laughing quietly and turned, smirking down at me.

"What's so funny?" he asked, his attention varying from me to the food at lightning speeds. I chuckled.

"Not much, just how desperate you are for food." I admitted. Rhydian glanced at me with an amused expression before looking back at the trays of food that were still some distance away. I smiled as I removed my gaze from him, instead choosing to scope out the room. I waved at Maddy as she appeared in the doorway, gesturing for her to join Rhydian and me in the line.

"Hi." She breathed as she joined us seeming uneasy. I frowned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in comfort and a welcoming gesture.

"All right?" Rhydian replied glancing at her once before looking back at the trays. I rolled my eyes at him but didn't comment.

"I'm really sorry about the memory card. You were right to have taken it." Mads apologised, I smiled at her.

"It's fine Maddy. We're over it, and we understand why you were so upset with us. It's fine, sure Rhydian?" I answered; elbowing said blonde haired Wolfblood to get his attention.

"Yeah. Totally." He muttered. I sighed quietly and rolled my eyes again at his distraction; Maddy however didn't seem to notice, her own thoughts distracting her. I frowned at the pair of them, was I the only Wolfblood that could focus on one thing at a time? I removed my arm from Maddy and was about to comment about their lack of attention when Maddy quickly threw out a question I thought she'd already asked.

"Can you just come to dinner tonight? Mam and Dad, they want to talk to us about...wolfing out safely? I know it's really, really embarrassing, but we should just get it out the way... Abi's going." She pleaded, obviously embarrassed about having to ask. I frowned at her, wondering why she used me as an excuse for him to go but let it go, waiting for the reply Rhydian would give.

"Out of the way, yeah." He breathed. Maddy frowned and gave me a questioning look to which I responded with a shrug, he'd been spaced out like that most of the day – I'd just left him to it, knowing it was due to his newly started transformations and the lack of meat in his diet.

"And when you change, me and Mam are going to braid your hair...with ribbon...and take pictures?" She lied, or well, I hoped she was lying. If they tried that on me they were getting a bite taken out of them. The only male Wolfblood in the canteen however just nodded his head.

"Cool." I laughed at Maddy's expression and grabbed Rhydian's hand to redirect his attention to us – a technique I'd adapted after I'd had to ask him four times about his homework for science.

"You're not even listening to us, are you?" Maddy accused while I silently laughed. I felt Rhydian squeeze my hand in a silent gesture to stop but ignored him, raising my hand up to my face instead to try and smother them.

"Sorry, do you know what's on the menu?" He finally asked. I bit my bottom lip and looked away. No way was I telling him. I knew he wouldn't like it and I didn't want to ruin his day. Maddy however, didn't seem to feel the same as I did.

"Uh, I think Wednesday's veggie day." She admitted. I heard Rhydian groan and squeezed the hand that was still in mine, offering comfort. I was definitely going to invite him around for dinner more often, at least that way he'd get some more meat in his diet.

"Meat." Maddy suddenly blurted out, gaining both Rhydian and my own attention, both for very different reasons.

"Where?" My best friend asked, sniffing the air for any signs. I frowned at him with pity.

"Don't Mads." I ordered when I saw a teasing glint appear in her eyes. "He's got cravings." Maddy frowned and looked over at Rhydian for an explanation as to why.

"They're vegetarians, Maddy, my foster parents, they're vegetarians." He muttered. His attention was now fully away from the food which had been confirmed as vegetables. Maddy suddenly grinned.

"Well, Wednesday's hog roast night...You know, where you get a whole pig and roast it?...With all the trimmings." Maddy said emphasising all the meat. I moaned slightly at the thought, now feeling my hunger as it flooded in full force. My stomach growled for food, Rhydian's doing the same a few seconds later.

"A whole pig?" The blonde beside me questioned. Mads nodded her head with a cheeky smile, happy she'd gotten his attention.

"You fancy it?" She asked. I nodded my head, even though the two of us knew I was already going. Rhydian glanced at me once before he nodded his own head.

"Yeah." He breathed with a small smile just as we made it to the front of the line. I breathed out a sigh of relief and glanced back over my shoulder at the table where I'd abandoned my lunch - having thought we'd get to the front a lot faster than we actually did.

"Cool." Maddy breathed as she picked up a tray from the side. I moved out of the line and took a few steps back to wait for Rhydian.

"I can't look at another vegetable." He suddenly muttered, looking green just at the sight of the carrots, broccoli and sprouts that were on offer. I frowned at him as he quickly walked past me and sat down at our table. Maddy just chuckled to herself.

"Macaroni cheese, please." She requested. I walked up so I was beside her.

"Uh, I'm going to take Rhydian out for a run. He looks kind of sick. We should be back before class, if not, uh, cover for us?" I asked. Maddy looked over her shoulder at me then looked at Rhydian who by now had his head in his hands. I heard her sigh before nodding her head.

"Fine. Just, don't nearly get shot again." She muttered. I frowned at her.

"How was I to know that they were shooting game that day?" I asked with a snort of laughter. Maddy shot me a glare which made me sober up and nod my head. She rolled her eyes at me before silently shooing me away. I grinned at her, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze before I practically ran over to Rhydian. He looked up as I stopped beside him, a small frown on his face.

"Come on you." I ordered pointing towards the door. Rhydian frowned but followed me as I picked up my lunch and ran out the canteen's doors.

The two of us ran out the doors and across the football pitch as per normal, though this run was without the underlying fun that most of our runs (which would normally turn into races) had. Rhydian was too hungry and put out about the whole Vegetarian food to really care about racing or having a bit of fun, and I was fine with that. I ran as fast as I could, remembering not to go too deep into the forest, where the game keepers had started shooting animals. I slowed as we reached a familiar tree, which was a few minutes' walk from my house. I stopped just beside it, Rhydian taking a seat beside the tree. I tilted my head as he sat down, waiting for him to ask what we were doing.

"Okay. I give up. Why are we here?" The blonde Wolfblood asked after a few moments. I smiled.

"Eating." I replied tossing him my lunch. He frowned as he caught the bag I had tossed him.

"Right. Why here?" He asked. I smiled and help a finger gesturing for him to wait.

"Give me a second and eat the chicken in the bag while I go get some stuff." Rhydian frowned and tilted his head.

"Where you going? And I can't eat your lunch." He argued. I rolled my eyes.

"Trust me, and yeah you can. I'll be gone for one minute." Rhydian sighed but nodded his head, digging into the chicken in the bag.

I grinned and turned on my heels, running over the leaves, up the hill and up to my front door. I took the keys out my back pocket and unlocked the door, walking inside and heading straight to the fridge. Grabbing a plastic bag from the cupboard next to the fridge, I began to pile in some ham and the remainder of the chicken which I had cooked the previous night for me to pig out on whenever I got a meat craving. I felt a grin appear on my face as I piled up the food, grabbing a can of fizzy juice for both of us just before I closed the door. I turned and grinned as I saw the chocolate on the counter, grabbing it as I made my way to the door. After I had checked the kitchen I turned and went back out through the front door, making sure to lock it on my way out.

I replaced my keys back in my pocket as I ran back through the dense forestry around my foster parent's house. It didn't take me much longer until I had met back up with Rhydian, who looked relieved when he saw me again. I frowned at him.

"What's up?" I asked. Rhydian smiled in relief.

"They've started shooting again." Rhydian sighed, leaning back against the tree. I looked up as I heard the distinct sounds of gun shots. I winced.

"Oh. Sorry for worrying you... uh, I got meat." I grinned, lifting up the bag of food from my fridge. Rhydian's head shot up when I mentioned the food source his diet was seriously lacking in. I chuckled a little and sat beside him, placing the bag between us as I did so. Rhydian instantly dived into the bag, taking out a chicken leg. I laughed at him and took out the cans, handing him one as he handed me some chicken.

"Thanks Abs." He muttered around a mouthful of chicken. I ginned at him and took a sip of the drink in my hand before I replied.

"No problem Rhydian."

The two of us returned to the school, still snacking on the chocolate bar that I had taken from the side unit in my foster parents' kitchen. Rhydian was clearly feeling much better, half way back he had taken to teasing me about how much chicken and ham I had cooked for just me. Of course I had retaliated, pointing out that he had somehow managed to eat nearly all of it himself anyway. But, now we were on our way back to school - and we were early. I was doing a great job at not getting a detention.

Rhydian and I had just hit the tarmac area when I heard Jimi, his group and the K's conversing. I stopped moving, frowning over at the group - what were they doing?

"Were you frightened?" One of them asked through a laugh. Jimi chuckled in return.

"It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life!" He laughed before pointing at someone coming out the door. I frowned as I saw Shannon. "It's here! Save yourselves! It's attacking me! It's savaging me!" Jimi laughed as Shannon jumped him. I gasped lightly, drawing Rhydian's attention. He jumped in front of me, blocking off my view while also keeping me safe from any potential threats. I watched as he scanned the area before turning and looking me over.

"What?" He questioned placing his hands on my shoulders as he looked me over for any injuries, clearly concerned for my health. I gently removed his hands and threw the chocolate bar at him as I ran to stop Shannon from beating Jimi to a pulp. I may say he deserves it all the time, but I knew Maddy would kill me if she knew I'd let her best friend get in trouble.

I got to Shannon just as Maddy, Tom and Mr Jefferies did. Maddy seemed to freeze once she'd stopped in front of them, whereas I jumped in and pulled Shannon away. Rhydian came over a second later, looking me over for any signs of injury again.

"What on earth is going on here!?" Mr Jefferies yelled as he walked over. I looked back at him losing my concentration and letting my grip on Shannon slacken, she took this as an opportunity and threw me off her. I fell to the ground, wincing as I hit the hard tarmac. Rhydian instantly moved in, pulling me up from the ground and over to him, away from Shannon who he was now glaring at.

"She just went for me, sir!" Jimi shouted as he tried to deter any blame from him. I glared at him, growling lowly. Rhydian hugged me close, trying to shut me up.

"More posters?" Mr Jefferies questioned angrily. Maddy took a step forward but before she did something she'd regret I pulled her back a little.

"She needs help." Jimi shouted just winding Shannon up further. I pushed Maddy back and tried to break out of Rhydian's arms. I understood Shannon better that I had before, and I was not going to let him make fun of her. But as soon as I moved Rhydian did, making sure he kept a firm grip on my waist, so I couldn't get loose.

"I don't need help! That monster's real and I'm going to prove it!" Shannon yelled. I sighed a little at the prospect of her being out more often but didn't comment, keeping my gaze on Jimi just encase he tried to annoy her more or retaliate.

"Well, you can do it after detention!" Mr Jefferies yelled at her. I stopped struggling in Rhydian's arms and looked at our teacher confused, what had she done to deserve one?

"What? Another one?" She questioned angrily. Jimi and the others started laughing. I turned to look at Maddy who seemed to be in shock at seeing her best friend in a fight. I opened my mouth to gain her attention but before I could Mr Jefferies shout caught my attention, "All of you!" My head turned so fast I thought I heard something break.

"What? Sir, what? I've been good all day! I can't get a detention tonight!" I shouted. Mr Jefferies glared at me before he about turned and headed back inside. I groaned and threw myself back into Rhydian's chest...so much for my golden week. Shannon ran off in a huff, not saying anything to the group of us that were left behind. Rhydian was quick to take me away as well, making sure I didn't get a chance to do anything to the remaining group.

"Are you okay?" He asked once he had pulled me away far enough that he knew he'd be able to stop me. I took a deep breath in and nodded.

"Yeah, fine." I sighed as I leaned back against the school wall and sank down. Rhydian sat beside me, pulling me in for a small hug. I took a deep breath in and sighed.

"And I was doing so well."

I crossed my arms, placing them on the desk in front of me before I placed my head on top of them. Rhydian was beside me, doing some work of some sort. I couldn't be bothered and refused to do any due to the fact I didn't think I should be there. I had planned to go out for a run and then cook some more chicken to take with me to Mads house but all those plans had been put on hold because I ran to help Shannon try to get out of a situation. With a sigh I sat up a little straighter, picking up my pencil with one hand and twisting it around in my hand. I allowed my hearing to range out, just wanting something to do.

"Please, not tonight. I thought we were going this weekend?" Maddy whispered to Shannon in front of me and Rhydian. I frowned and looked at the two, what was happening tonight?

"Did Scott of the Antarctic wait until the weekend?" Who?

"Yeah But he died." Maddy pointed out. I frowned and leaned forward.

"I'm sorry, what are you two talking about?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. The two of them twisted in their seats.

"Shannon wants to go out on the moors tonight." Maddy revealed. My eyes widened in shock.

"What? Tonight? Why? What's the point when we can go out at the weekend?" I asked. Shannon glared at me, and sighed with annoyance.

"The point is; the monster could be gone by the weekend. It's there right now!" She whisper yelled, trying to put her point further across. I glanced at Rhydian, who I knew was secretly listening before I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

"I can't make it tonight and neither can Rhydian or Abi. We've got this dinner thing with my parents." Maddy told the red head beside her. Shannon looked at her irritated.

"Then get out of it." Shannon ground out, not looking at all amused with Maddy's excuse. I sighed and stretched back in my chair.

"I can't, they've been nagging me for weeks." Maddy emphasised. Shannon sighed.

"Fine." She bit out before looking up at the unexpected Tom in front of her, "Well, Tom's coming, aren't you, Tom?" She questioned.

"Oh, well, there's a Man U match on tonight..." He trailed off once he saw the glare he was receiving from Shannon. I chuckled quietly to myself at the glare but said nothing.

"Which I will record." Tom sighed. Shannon smiled slightly.

"Good. We meet at Bernie's, five o'clock." She ordered before she got back to the work that Jefferies had set us.

I took a deep breath in before leaning over the set work, looking at Rhydian as he wrote. I peeked over at his work to see how far he'd gotten, only to frown as I saw the worksheet completely blank. Looking further down the page I saw what he had been occupied with and felt a blush appear on my face as I saw the drawing of me. I looked up at Rhydian to see a light blush also covering his cheeks. _Aww, cute._


	4. Mysterious Developments - Pt2

I chuckled at the look on Rhydian's face as he opened his foster parent's house's door. I smiled and waved at him somewhat cheekily. We were supposed to be meeting at our tree as we had dubbed it, but I had gotten their early, climbed it, and gotten bored... so decided to visit his house.

"Surprise!" I cheered quietly. Rhydian looked at me sternly, opening the door and exiting his house, shutting the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. I frowned.

"I came to pick you up." I replied, tilting my head. He frowned and glanced over his shoulder uneasily, as if expecting someone to jump out at him. I bit my lip and was about to comment when a woman opened the front door, frowning as she did.

"Rhydian who's at the door?... oh hello." She greeted when she saw Rhydian and I standing together. I smiled at her and waved a little.

"Uh, Hi. I'm, Abigail Turner. A friend of Rhydian's." I introduced as I looked her over. She smiled at me.

"I'm Rhydian's foster mother, Gemma Vaughan, nice to meet you Abigail." She greeted with a kind smile. I nodded my head.

"Uh, if it's okay Mrs Vaughan, Rhydian and I are going over to Maddy's for dinner." I said, not sure what to say or do in this situation. She smiled knowingly at me, causing a frown to appear on my face... what? She nodded her head at me.

"Yes, yes. Uh, have a nice time you two." She replied with a nod, smiling at Rhydian and me as she went back inside. Rhydian rolled his eyes at me, taking my arm as he pulled me off down the hill that he lived on. I chuckled at the expression on his face.

"What's wrong Rhydian?" I asked once we were about halfway into town. He frowned and looked over at me with a light glare. I laughed.

"You can't just show up like that." He muttered.

I grinned, jumping onto his back for a piggy back, just wanting to put a smile back on his face. I heard a chuckle come out of his mouth as he placed his hands on the back of my knees, and felt a grin appear on my face as my plan worked. He carried me the rest of the way to Maddy's, refusing to put me down every time I asked. Once we got to Maddy's front door I stretched forward and knocked on the wooden door, listening for either, Emma, Daniel or Mads to open the door.

"Oh, that'll be him." I heard Daniel mutter from inside. I moved to hop down, when I felt Rhydian once again tighten his grip on the back of my knees. I chuckled but wrapped my arms around his shoulders, hugging him from behind. Neither of us moved as we waited for the door to open.

"Rhydian, I'm Daniel." Daniel greeted as he opened the door, pausing for a moment as he saw how Rhydian and I were standing. I squeezed Rhydian's shoulders before I jumped down.

"Hi Daniel!" I greeted. He smiled at the two of us, holding out a hand for Rhydian to shake.

"Come on in." Daniel said as he nodded for us to walk past. I grinned at him and practically ran in the house, grinning as I saw the amount of meat on the table. I turned around waiting to see the grin on Rhydian's face at the sight, only to frown with worry as I saw how uncomfortable he looked.

"Pleased to, er, "meat" you!" Daniel joked as he came in behind Rhydian and me, trying to ease the slight tension. I chuckled quietly at the terrible joke, but kept my worried gaze on Rhydian. He looked over at me with a small smile, which I returned, walking over and taking his hand. I lead him over to the table and sat him down, receiving strange and worried looks from both Emma and Daniel. I tilted my head at their reactions but chose not to comment, instead setting myself down in the seat next to Rhydian. The Smith's joined shortly after, all five of us digging into the brilliant meal that Emma had made. I quietly tucked into my meal, only looking back up when I noticed that Emma and Dan had stopped eating. I frowned and followed their gaze to the blonde haired Wolfblood next to me, what I saw caused a chuckle to burst through my lips.

"Help yourself, mate, have as much as you like." Daniel quipped as Rhydian looked up noticing our gazes on him. Daniel smirked at Emma before he threw a piece of ham over in my direction I reached up to catch it only for my best friend to grab it for me. I grinned at him in thanks before picking up another bit of meat from my plate.

"It's got to be cool having a family you can be yourself around." Rhydian commented.

"You're more than welcome any time you want. And if you've got any questions about anything, just ask." Emma replied with a smile.

"On the full moon, do you change in the house? In here?" Rhydian asked. I stopped moving at the question and screwed up my nose. I hated this topic.

"No, we've got a secure room in the cellar." Daniel replied, giving me a warning look as he saw my face. I bit my lip and held back my comment about the room. It was small and dark and just wrong. Wolfblood's should be outside running while in their wolf forms - not locked up.

"The cellar?" Rhydian questioned, not seeming to understand. I sighed and threw a look over to Maddy who stood up.

"Come on." She muttered and I huffed, abandoning my utensils on the table as I grabbed Rhydian's hand, the two older Smiths following the three of us over to the dreaded door that lead to the cellar. I felt Emma's glare on my back but didn't turn, helping Mads to open the door by pushing away the jail door. I jumped down into the room after the younger Wolfblood, glaring around the room. I took a seat on the chair, as the Smiths and Rhydian came in.

"You like it?" Dan asked as he came in last. Rhydian looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged and leaned back in the chair choosing not to say anything.

"We call it the den. Got everything a wolf desires. And it's safe for us and, well, for everyone else. It's all about responsibility." Emma told Rhydian, looking at me every so often in warning. I pushed myself further down in the seat trying to disappear. I miss my old pack.

"But don't you ever just want to run free? Isn't that what being a Wolfblood's about?" Rhydian asked, looking more over at me than the older Smiths. I looked up at the question, a sly smile on my face.

"It is, running through woodland, feeling the wind on our faces, freedom. That's what it's about." I pushed, jumping up so I was standing on the chair. Emma glared at me, taking my hand and tugging me down so I was standing on the ground. I frowned at her, not happy that she'd ruined my little party. I heard a small growl and looked over to see Rhydian glaring at Emma for pulling me. I smiled at him and walked over, taking his hand to calm him down. Emma and Dan shared a look before the alpha female of the pack began talking.

"No. Being a Wolfblood's not just about giving into our primal desires. It's about being a responsible part of a wider community." Mads mum corrected. I sighed and shook my head.

"Yeah, we've got a rich heritage and culture. We've got books here you won't find in the school library! Rome was founded by the Wolfblood's Romulus and Remus and Genghis Khan's tribe weren't called The Wolves for nothing." Daniel explained, taking out a book. I chuckled at the annoyed expression on Emma's face but said nothing.

"Yeah, but most of us agree it's better to tame our instincts." Emma repeated.

"Most of us?" Maddy asked from her perch. I frowned, turning to look at her.

"I just meant that..."Emma stuttered. I looked between the two, confused. What was Maddy annoyed about? What Emma had said was true.

"No, you said most of us! You always told us we all kept ourselves locked away!" Mads argued making my eyes widen. She didn't know.

"Maybe we should..." Daniel muttered.

"She's not old enough." Emma replied. I looked between the three of them, subtly backing up into Rhydian.

"Old enough for what?" Mads questioned. I bit my lip and looked between the three before I took a deep breath and moved forward to reveal the truth, but before I could Rhydian grabbed my waist and pulled me back. He looked over at Dan and Emma.

"There are other Wolfblood's that don't lock themselves away, aren't there?" He asked. Emma and Daniel shared a look but didn't say anything to confirm or deny what Rhydian had just asked. Sighing I decided now was as good a time as any to tell Mads and Rhydian what I knew. I wordlessly nodded my head.

"There are. I've met some of them before." I admitted to them, not looking at my two Wolfblood friends in the eyes. I heard Maddy take a sharp intake of breath and glanced at her. She was staring at her parent's, waiting for them to confirm the truth.

"Is that true?" She asked as she edged her way over to me and Rhydian. I nodded my head; silently trying to tell her parent's to tell her the truth.

"We were going to tell you after you transformed." Emma muttered - as if that made things any better.

"We didn't want to scare you." Daniel revealed. I sighed and looked down.

"Scare us?" Maddy questioned.

"There are other Wolfblood's who well, they don't quite share the same values as us." Emma told her. I frowned and looked up at her. I knew for a fact that wasn't true. Some found them interesting but couldn't live like a human.

"Wild Wolfblood's." Daniel admitted. I sighed and leaned back into Rhydian.

"Most live out in woodland, away from any humans. It's not often you see them so close to pack boundaries - my old pack used to allow them through our land whenever they passed, letting them stay in our woodland for the night if they wished." I revealed to the two stunned Wolfblood's beside me. Emma gave me a stern look before turning her attention to Maddy.

"But they're very rare and most of us agree it's better to be a useful part of society, instead of..." Emma trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it. I bit my lip as I thought.

"Instead of what?" Mads asked.

"Instead of hating humans, and hating us." Daniel exclaimed. I tilted my head and opened my mouth to deny that statement. They didn't all hate us. I was friends with a few wild Wolfblood's.

"They're dangerous." Daniel breathed out. I shook my head.

"Some, not all are as violent as you say." I pointed out. The two older Wolfblood's glared at me, clearly not happy with my input. I shrank back, not willing to say anything more to upset them. I felt Rhydian tighten his hold on me in comfort.

"It really wasn't either of you in that photo?" Maddy suddenly questioned. I turned to look at her in shock. Shannon and Tom were out there, and if that Wolfblood was still out there... oh crap.

"We told you it wasn't." Rhydian defended us. I nodded my head.

"We need to go. Now." I breathed out.

"Shannon and Tom are out there!" Maddy yelled, running over to the door. I glanced back at Rhydian before removing his arms and following her out. If Shannon had her camera and took any pictures of it, that Wolfblood would be out for her. Shannon would be seen as a threat.

"What's wrong?" Daniel shouted after us as we ran out of the den. Maddy ran upstairs and to grab a picture while I tossed Rhydian his jacket. I pulled on my own just as Maddy reappeared, Emma and Daniel appearing out of the den. I zipped up my jacket as Maddy showed her parent's the photo.

"Look! Shannon took it the other day." She shouted as she put on the coat I tossed her, Mads nodded in thanks as she pulled it on.

"I thought it was Rhydian because I didn't know about wild Wolfbloods!" She growled. I sighed.

"I had known but I honestly thought Maddy knew and would have told you. If she had you'd have chased them out by now." I admitted. Daniel and Emma looked over the three of us.

"Where did they go?" Daniel asked after a sigh of frustration. I looked up at Rhydian as I thought about how to get to the area.

"To the woods. Here." He answered as I frowned in thought. Daniel rolled his eyes at us as Emma grabbed their coats.

"Yeah, but where? Where's here?" Daniel asked, hitting the paper for emphasis. I huffed out some air, grabbing Rhydian's hand as I got increasingly worried.

"I can't explain, but I can find it." Rhydian admitted.

"It's somewhere close to the east of the forest. I think. It's hard to describe but if we come we can find it." I told the two adults. They shared a look before shaking their heads.

"No. You three stay here." Emma ordered, moving towards the door.

"We're coming with you." Maddy argued.

"You're staying right here. If there's a wild Wolfblood out there, we'll sniff it out." Emma repeated, glaring at us before she and Daniel left, jumping into their four by four. I rolled my eyes but didn't move to follow, unsure what to do.

"This is ridiculous. We know where they are." Rhydian shouted. I sighed and nodded my head in agreement.

"We could get there and stop it before they've even got to Bernie's." I agreed crossing my arms in annoyance. Maddy looked at us with a frown, though not seeming convinced that her parent's could do it either.

"Mam and Dad know what they're doing!" She tried to convince us. I chuckled glancing at Rhydian who also seemed slightly amused despite the situation.

"In their car? If that wolf's out there, he's using his senses and he'll hunt down Tom and Shannon. We can get there first." My blonde haired best friend added, repeating my point about being quicker than their car. Maddy looked at us before glancing outside and sighing, I grinned and jumped up moving to the door.

"You're right. But no wolfing out. Shannon's got her camera." Maddy ordered. I nodded my head but made no direct promise, grabbing Rhydian's hand before taking off at a sprint in the general direction I knew the tree to be in. I heard Maddy huff and mutter something but paid her no mind as we raced to try and find Shannon and Tom.

We ran through the forest as quickly as we could, me dropping Rhydian's hand once we'd hit the small stream. I jumped over quickly, keeping my balance as we ran through all the tree's, avoiding any exposed roots or leaves on the ground. Maddy and Rhydian were just behind me, I could hear their breath as they raced behind me. I was about to jump over the next small stream, when a howl cut through the air. I instantly stopped running, catching myself on a tree. Rhydian and Maddy both stopped on either side of me, sharing a glance. I turned my head in the general direction of the howl, taking a big whiff in. I could smell both Shannon and Tom... and Jimi? Maddy shook her head before sighing and continuing on her way to Shannon; I watched her go glancing at Rhydian. He nodded his head in Maddy's direction before running off, me following closely behind. The three of us arrived within seconds of each other, nearly running into them - making the group in front us scream.

"Are you OK?" Maddy asked worriedly once the group had stopped screaming like a group of five year olds.

"We would be if you stopped jumping out at us!" Tom yelled. I rolled my eyes.

"Deep breaths Tom." I muttered, grabbing Rhydian's hand as I smelled a scent I didn't recognise.

"What are you doing here?" Maddy asked, gesturing to Jimi, Sam and Liam. I glared over at them heatedly, just knowing they'd been here to scare or annoy Shannon and Tom. Jimi glared back at me.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had dinner with your parents?" Shannon asked, not allowing Jimi to answer Mads previous question.

"You had dinner with Rhydian?" Tom questioned looking between the three of us. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I noticed Tom staring at Maddy, he was clearly jealous. I heard a chuckle from the right of him and looked over to see Jimi and his two idiots laughing.

"On a date?" He teased pointing at our hands. I glared at him and dropped Rhydian's hand, marching forward ready to take a bite out of him. Rhydian, predicting the move, easily grabbed my waist stopping my assault.

"Shut up." I hissed at them, not amused at all. Rhydian squeezed my waist in comfort.

"Guys...Guys!" Shannon suddenly shouted, gaining all our attentions. I looked up the hill, my eyes widening as my more sensitive eyes saw the outline of a wolf. Rhydian also seeing the same as me pushed me behind him, making sure I was protected. I frowned, noticing the wolf coming closer and closer to the group.

Taking a deep breath, moved back quickly and quietly, feeling my anger and protective instinct growing as the wild Wolfblood got closer and closer to Rhydian... and the others. I looked at my hands, noticing the blood change, and got down on all fours, growling at the Wolfblood threatening my friends. Rhydian turned to look at me, his eyes growing wide as he saw me as a wolf.

"What was that?" Tom shouted, not being able to see as well as Mad's, Rhydian or me.

"It's the monster!" Shannon shouted, still looking over in the direction of the wild Wolfblood. I growled loudly at the intruder, trying to seem threatening. Jimi heard my growls and turned. His face paling as he noticed me. I turned my head to watch the wild Wolfblood as they moved around the group, heading for me as I was the bigger threat.

"No. That's the monster!" Jimi yelled running back so they were all behind Rhydian and Maddy, both of them looking at me worriedly. I nodded my head subtly, wanting them to move on and run.

"Everybody get behind me! Mads! Mads!" Tom shouted as he noticed his crush not moving. I turned to watch them, only to howl in pain as I was blinded by Shannon's flash on her camera. I whined a little, closing my eyes as I shook my head, meaning my attention was no longer on the Wolfblood opposite me. I took a step forward, whining in pain as I felt something hit my side.

"Run!" Maddy shouted. I jumped back to my feet, worried that the wolf was after them, and shook off the shunt I had just taken. I noticed the other Wolfblood circling me a little and growled, making sure to keep it in full view, not sure what else to do.

"Ow!" I heard someone yell, my ears perked up at the noise, the reminder that there were still people here that I had to protect. I turned to the Wolfblood and ran at them, hoping I could scare them away. The other Wolfblood had other ideas, jumping on me as soon as I ran at them. I howled in pain as they scratched my side, sighing slightly in relief when the pain was gone. I looked up to see Rhydian in wolf form, looking really, really annoyed. I watched as Rhydian growled at the other Wolf, standing over me like some sort of protector. I joined in with the growling, sitting up slightly and pushing Rhydian off my back so he could focus on himself rather than just me. The two of us slowly began stalking forward.

"Rhydian!" Maddy suddenly shouted as she emerged from the tree's surprising both Rhydian and I. We turned to look at her, forgetting about the wolf for a moment. They took that opportunity to attack, pushing Rhydian back into a tree, knocking him out. I growled and tried to jump on the only other conscious wolf, groaning as I was thrown off, hitting a tree with my sore side. I quickly jumped back up, ignoring the pain, and ran so I stood over Rhydian, making sure he was protected. I growled as the other wolf stalked closer, but I knew if it did anything I wouldn't be able to fight back - I wasn't sure how.

"Leave them alone!" Maddy shouted, gaining the Wolfblood's attention. I whined and shook my head at her, trying to get her to stop. She couldn't transform yet - she'd get hurt. Maddy ignored me, willing her wolf to show. I watched, still crouching in case I needed to attack or something, as Maddy's eyes turned yellow and the wolf became distracted. I scanned Mads over, trying to work out her plan, when I spotted the camera. I immediately perked up, twisting myself so the flash wouldn't affect me and if Rhydian woke up, he'd be protected. I heard the camera click multiple times and snarled as I heard the wild Wolfblood growl. A few more clicks were heard before a huff came out of the other wolf and leaves could be heard crunching as it ran. I breathed out in relief.

I turned around just as Maddy came running over, falling to her knees beside Rhydian's unconscious wolf form. I looked up at her and licked her cheek, earning a small smile out of her. I barked out a laugh, before kneeling next to Rhydian. I nudged him with my nose, giving him a few licks on the side of his face as I tried to wake him up. I heard a low growl in his throat and sat back up, calming myself down until I was back human.

"Come on Rhydian." I muttered, scratching behind his ears. I smiled as I noticed his back paw twitch.

"Will he be okay?" Maddy asked. I looked over at her with a light smile as I rubbed my hand along Rhydian's fur.

"He'll be... ugh... fine." I breathed out, wincing as I moved, my hand quickly moving to the side the wolf had scratched. Maddy jumped up, her eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded my head and breathed out slowly, shaking off the pain.

"Just sore, I'll be fine by tomorrow afternoon." I told her honestly, replacing my hand back on Rhydian's fur as I continued to try and wake him up. It didn't take much longer before I saw his bright yellow eyes staring back up at me. I sighed in relief and sat back a little, giving him some room to change back.

"Uh, what happened?" He muttered as he rubbed his head. I chuckled as I tried to wipe some dirt from his face. Rhydian smiled and tried to return the favour, chuckling as we both accidently put more on the others face.

"We just scared a wild Wolfblood... Come on you." I chuckled before I helped him up by grabbing one of his arms. The two of us moved over to the bigger tree and sat down, neither of us keen to move. Maddy sat down beside me, looking over all the pictures she had taken while blinding the other Wolfblood. I winced as I remembered the feeling of not being able to see.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Maddy suddenly apologised as I fell into Rhydian's chest, tiredness over taking every feeling in my body.

"I don't blame you. We didn't even know about wild Wolfblood's." Rhydian muttered as he hugged me close burying his head in my shoulder. I smiled at the feeling and reached back, pulling his arms around me.

"I'm sorry for not telling, I thought you already knew." I admitted as I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper into Rhydian's chest. I felt him sigh and smiled to myself. I could stay like this all day.

"What's that?" Rhydian asked as he looked over my head. I opened one eye, also looking over the pictures that Maddy had taken. Chuckling as I saw one of me.

"I look good at that angle. Print that one for my wall." I joked earning a chuckle out of Rhydian and Maddy as she deleted it. She moved on to the next one making me tilt my head.

"Is that... Rhydian?" I asked, taking the camera from her and setting it on my knee so all of us could see it.

"It's something." Maddy replied making me chuckle.

"You can't tell it's a wolf." Rhydian pointed out. I nodded my head; it was hard to tell I only knew because I'd been there for the whole incident.

"We've got to leave something for Shannon." Maddy sighed. I nodded my head.

"Yeah. Anyway, that's my best side." Rhydian joked as he leaned back onto the tree, pulling me back with him. I handed Maddy back the camera.

"You look good at any side." I said accidently voicing my thoughts aloud. Maddy looked at me wide eyed while I blushed heavily - not that you could tell from the level of dirt and bruises on my face. Rhydian squeezed my side.

"That goes for you too." He whispered in my ear, making a grin appear on my face, Mads looked at the two of us before rolling her eyes and turning back to the camera. I twisted around and gave my blonde haired saviour a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." I replied, still blushing. Rhydian coughed somewhat awkwardly before turning to look over at Maddy.

"Where are the others?" Rhydian asked.

"Tom hurt his ankle, he's with Shannon, and you know Jimi - every man for himself." Maddy revealed. I snorted in amusement and rolled my eyes.

"He's such a wuss." Rhydian bit out.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is!" Maddy agreed as she got up. I sat up a little straighter watching her go with a small frown on my face.

"So we'll find Tom and Shannon by ourselves, then, shall we? Yeah. Good." Rhydian muttered as we listened to Mads footsteps getting further and further away. I sighed but pushed myself up, wincing a little as I strained the scratch on my side. Rhydian was instantly beside me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, helping to my feet. I grinned at him though it was slightly strained.

"Just a little scratch. I'll be fine." I admitted, glancing around before I pulled him into a hug. He reacted a second later, seeming surprised.

"Don't do that again." I murmured in his ear, hating how he'd defended me and ended up being more hurt. Rhydian pulled back to look at me with a frown.

"Only if you don't." He agreed. I chuckled and shook my head, hugging him close again.

"So, that means that the two of us are both going to get more injuries then." I muttered making Rhydian chuckle. I laughed as I pulled back; giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before I took his hand and tugged him in the general direction I'd seen the group run off in while I'd distracted the other Wolfblood.

The two of us slowly walked off, hand in hand, towards where we believed Shannon and Tom were. Neither of us was in any rush, due to the fact we both knew how much trouble we were in from Emma and Daniel, and we both had our own little injuries. It didn't take long for us to come across Shannon and Tom. The pair of them huddled beside the tree Rhydian and I had seen Shannon crying at. I kneeled down beside Tom, hiding all my own pain as I took in his ankle.

"Whoa, you certainly twisted it." I muttered as I looked it over. I glanced up just as Tom rolled his eyes.

"Yes, thanks for your opinion Dr Abi." He muttered. I smirked and him and stood up, holding out a hand to help him up, when Rhydian cut in front of me taking Tom's arm and wrapping it around his shoulders. I watched as Rhydian pulled Tom to his feet and helped him hop to the road that lead out of the woods, leaving Shannon and I behind. I glanced over at the red head.

"You okay?" I asked. She looked over at me and nodded, climbing over the branches to follow behind Rhydian and Tom. Giving one last check of the area, I followed after.

"So what do you think it was? It had to be the beast, right?!" Shannon asked as she caught up with the boys. I sighed quietly, jogging to catch up.

"Probably foxes." Rhydian dismissed, looking at me out the corner of his eye. I smiled at the attempt but didn't help dismiss the beast questions, not really sure it would be good enough for Shannon after she'd seen me going at it.

"Have you ever seen foxes fight? They really go for it, those foxes!" Rhydian continued, throwing me a worried look. I chuckled to myself and shook my head. I was fine.

"Hi, guys." Maddy greeted as she appeared from the surrounding woodland. I smiled at her and waved a little.

"Where've you been?" Rhydian asked, seeming concerned. Maddy gave me a pointed look which made me grin - she'd been on a revenge trip. I nodded my head, silently saying I understood what she'd done. Maddy nodded in return before answering Rhydian's question.

"Looking for you guys." I laughed silently, throwing an arm around her shoulder as she joined the four of us, walking between me and Shannon.

"Anyway. What I saw was bigger than a fox. There's definitely something out there." Shannon argued, confirming my previous thought about what seeing me had done. I looked at the ground and sighed, so much for getting to wolf out in the moors again.

"What's that?" Tom suddenly asked, bringing my attention back to the road. I frowned, growling a little as the light got closer... only to sigh in relief when I saw the front of the Smiths car coming into view. Emma and Daniel jumped out the vehicle, a worried look on both their faces.

"Is everyone all right?" Emma asked, taking in the four of us.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel continued. I used my free hand to scratch the back of my neck, unsure how to answer any of those questions.

"What are you doing here?" Shannon countered, confused. I opened my mouth trying to think of a quick excuse... nothing popping into my head.

"Uh...We were..." Daniel trailed off, sharing a look with Emma. I winced, and shared a look with Maddy. This wasn't sounding very convincing.

"Just...Going for a drive." Emma exclaimed.

"Cos Emma likes bird watching." Daniel excused while Emma came up with, "Dan likes star-gazing." I sighed and squeezed Maddy's shoulder.

"Tom's hurt his ankle." Maddy said changing the subject, which was probably the best thing you could do. I nodded my head in agreement with the statement.

"Let's get him back to the house." Emma ordered as Daniel came over to help the boy into the back of the truck. I stayed back, wanting to sit with Rhydian.

"You all right?" Maddy asked Tom who nodded.

"Yeah, just a bit freaked out, I guess." I sighed and grabbed Rhydian's hand after he'd finished helping Dan put Tom in the truck. Emma came over to us, a glare on her features as she took us in. Rhydian also noticed and took a slight step in front of me.

"Was this you two? Did you bring my daughter out here?" She questioned. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"I did. We could find Shannon and Tom quicker that you could." I pointed out, not sure if I should be saying it or not, but not wanting Rhydian in trouble. Emma opened her mouth to comment when Dan shouted back from the front seat.

"Come on, you three. In you get." He said, starting up the engine. Rhydian and I shared a glance before we both hopped in the boot, our hands still together. Emma sent us one last look before she went round and got in the front. Once she was gone I took a deep breath in and leaned into Rhydian.

"Not good." I muttered. Rhydian chuckled.

"Really not good."

"No, No, No, No, No..." Shannon muttered as she went through all the photos on the memory card. I sighed as I used the wipes and tissues I'd been given to clean Rhydian's face, which had got a small cut on it when he'd been knocked out. Rhydian seemed to be enjoying the attention he'd been getting from me; I'd noticed him grinning every time I looked away and playing up the pain whenever I touched the cloth to his head. I should have really just let him do it himself when I'd noticed, but I'd been doing the same when he'd started cleaning my scratch.

"Whoa, what's that?" Tom suddenly shouted making me jump and accidently hit Rhydian. I winced as he grunted a little in pain.

"Sorry." I muttered, picking up a clean wipe to get some more dirt off his face. Rhydian just smirked and shook it off.

"Oh. No, that's just a badger." Tom muttered after some clicking. I chuckled quietly, throwing the used wipes in a pile beside me before I pulled back and looked over Rhydian's face. He was now as clean as he was when we arrived. Rhydian smiled at me once he noticed my grin, before he twisted me around and sat me down on his knee. Maddy looked over at us and rolled her eyes, to which I retaliated by sticking out my tongue. I felt Rhydian chuckle behind me but ignored it, instead stretching over for my hot chocolate so I could hug it to my chest.

"I know it's up there. I'll find it one day." Shannon sighed. I leaned back into Rhydian's chest with a sigh and gestured for Maddy to show her the picture of Rhydian.

"What about that one, Shan?" Maddy asked as she flicked through some images on the screen. Shannon frowned and tilted her head.

"It's not very clear." She pointed out.

"You can still see something, though." Maddy argued. I stretched my neck to see the image, Rhydian doing the same.

"Yeah, you could even use it on a poster, Shan." Rhydian agreed. I nodded my head.

"Prove to them all what's up there." Shannon just shook her head.

"No, I'm done with posters." Maddy sent me a grin before a sly look appeared on her features.

"Are you sure you're done with posters?" She asked, flicking to the picture that's she'd silently mentioned earlier. The four of us all watched as Maddy flicked to the picture, laughing at the image we saw. Maddy grinned over at Rhydian and me, a grin which I returned. That was brilliant. I watched as Shannon glanced over at Maddy's printer before she began making the poster that we knew was going to be covering the school tomorrow or it would be if I had anything to say about it. The five of us were all so involved with the poster we didn't hear Daniel or Emma making their way upstairs until they'd knocked on Maddy's door.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt... but can we talk to Rhydian and Abi for a moment?" Emma asked, looking over at us. I glanced back at the boy I was sitting on, who nodded, before I got up and wandered over to the door, sending Maddy a reassuring smile before I exited. Rhydian and I followed Emma and Daniel downstairs silently, waiting until the door was shut before we talked.

"We're sorry for taking Mads." I instantly burst out, trying to get back on their good side. Emma just shook her head and held up her hand.

"That's not what this is about." Daniel admitted as he gestured for us to sit on the couch. Rhydian and I shared a look before we both took a seat. Emma looked at Daniel before taking in a deep breath.

"Have either of you ever heard of Bloodmates?" Emma asked, taking a seat opposite us. I frowned and threw my mind back, trying to think if I'd ever heard the term. Eventually I shook my head.

"Uh, no. I don't think so." I admitted, looking over at Rhydian who just shook his head.

"They're very rare. It's very unlikely you would have anyway." Daniel admitted. I tilted my head and frowned.

"Why do we need to know anyway?" Rhydian asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Wait, first, what are bloodmates?" I asked. Emma smiled slightly before she explained.

"Bloodmates are two Wolfblood's that are destined to be together, their inner wolves call to the other." She started to explain.

"So... like love at first sight type stuff." I scoffed. Emma rolled her eyes at me but nodded.

"Yes, and well you two need to know because, uh, well..." She trailed off sharing a look with Dan. Rhydian frowned before a look of realisation appeared on his face.

"Are you saying that we're..." He started, gesturing between the two of us. I gasped and looked at him.

"What?" I questioned, looking over at Emma and Dan. They shared a glance.

"Well, all the signs are there." Dan told us with a shrug. I frowned.

"What signs?" Emma smiled at me reassuringly, reaching forward to squeeze my hand in comfort, it didn't work. Instead I reached over to grab Rhydian's hand, knowing that would be a million times more comforting. Rhydian squeezed my hand once he felt mine wiggle into his.

"The pair of you are so protective of each other, you love being in each other's presence, you hold hands and hug all the time, you love each other's scents..." Emma started, when Rhydian cut her off.

"Okay, so what does that mean?" He asked.

"It means that you two have to be careful." Emma replied. I frowned and tilted my head, gesturing for her to go on. She sighed, "You two are more likely to change in public. If the other one feels so much as annoyed, you'll want to defend them." I looked over at Rhydian when he scoffed.

"Yeah. Sure." He muttered.

"What if I was to forbid Abi from being on this land anymore and forced her out of our territory?" Emma asked, looking annoyed with Rhydian. I heard Rhydian start growling and turned just to see his eyes turn yellow. Instantly, I grabbed the side of his face and made him look at me.

"Calm down Rhydian." I whispered, rubbing the side of his face with the pad of my thumbs. I watched as his eyes slowly returned to normal. I glanced back over at Emma and Dan.

"What do we do?" I asked Emma. She sighed.

"Just go with your feelings but, make sure you're careful. The more time you spend together the stronger the connection, I'm sure you already know exists, will get." I nodded my head, frowning in thought as I glanced over at my... Bloodmate? Daniel looked between me and Rhydian before placing a hand on Emma's shoulder.

"We'll give you some space." He said before both he and Emma headed out the room. I looked down at the ground, not sure how to react or how I felt about this.

Of course, there was part of me that was happy and relieved to have this explained to me. It was great to know there was a reason for the strange connection that the pair of us seemed to have. But on the other hand, this meant I was now attached to Rhydian without any real consent from either him or myself, not that it was a bad thing. It's just, you think you get to chose who the person you spend the rest of your life with, but according to Emma and Dan, that wasn't the case... not that there was anything wrong with Rhydian. He was brilliant.

Sighing, I looked over at the Wolfblood at the centre of my thoughts. He seemed deep in thought, though I caught his gaze flickering over to me every few seconds. I fell back onto the couch with a huff of air. Today was just getting better and better.

"So..." I trailed off, gaining Rhydian's attention.

"So..." He replied, not looking at me, which kind of hurt.

"What are we going to do?" He asked after I never said anything. I sighed, feeling tears in my eyes when he still didn't look up at me.

"What can we do?... Pretend we never had that conversation." I bit out sarcastically. Rhydian looked over at me at the comment, pulling me into his chest as soon as he saw my eyes. I wrapped my arms around him and allowed the tears to overspill a little as I hugged him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to me. I sniffed and cuddled closer to him in response.

"Just promise you won't leave because of this." I muttered into his chest. He tightened his arms around me.

"I'm not going anywhere yet." He muttered to me.

The two of us remained cuddled together until Maddy, Shannon and Tom came down an hour later.

Rhydian and I walked to school hand in hand the next day. Last night neither of us had really been sure how to act around each other, but after a discussion when we'd met in the morning we decided to just ignore the conversation we'd had with Emma and Daniel and just let our feelings do what they want. Neither of us were in a rush to get into some sort of a relationship, but the attraction I felt for him wasn't something I could argue with forever, but for now we were just happy being friends.

We hadn't told Mads about the conversation we'd had with her parents, deciding to only tell her when we officially began to go out - if we did, not that either of us had out right refused to go out with the other. I was definitely not against it.

But now, Rhydian, Mads, Shannon, Tom and I were all standing at the front door to the school, waiting to admire the results of this morning's hard work. I was being hugged from behind by Rhydian, who hadn't really let go of me since we'd heard about Bloodmates - only letting go once he'd walked me to my house last night. Tom, Shannon and Maddy had sly grins on all of their faces, whereas I just felt content, or well I did until I saw Jimi and his gang - a smirk instantly replacing the calm smile.

"What are you looking at, losers?" He bit out as he passed the five of us, making me chuckle. The five of us watched them go in, sharing a grin. Rhydian dropped his arms from around my waist, taking my hand before following them in - eager to see some results.

"Cry babies of the moors"?" Jimi read just as we arrived behind them. I grinned, burying my mouth on Rhydian's shoulder so my laugh didn't draw their attention to us.

"I didn't cry!" Jimi exclaimed, looking over at the other two.

"Sam did!" Liam shouted.

"Did not! Jimi did!" Sam denied. The three of them glared at each other before they walked away. I took my head out of Rhydian's shoulder and let my joy at their reaction show. Rhydian pulled me closer and hugged me while the others all grinned and chuckled at Jimi's misfortune.

Maybe this Bloodmate thing won't be so bad.


End file.
